Eugene T. Reed

Eugene Tyree Reed (January 9, 1923 – September 25, 2002) was an American dentist and civil rights leader. He was twice president of the New York state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Reed campaigned for civil rights in the North and the South during the 1950s and 1960s. He was a Freedom Rider and a principal organizer of school desegregation protests in New York. He was also an advocate of more militant strategies within the NAACP.

Early life, education and career Reed was born on January 9, 1923, in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighbourhood of New York.

In 1930, his family moved to Glen Cove, Long Island. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1948. He joined the Amityville branch of the NAACP and soon became branch president in 1953. Reed was part of the NAACP committee that investigated the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964.

In the late 1960s, Reed was part of the NAACP's self-described "Young Turks" who pushed for more confrontational tactics and criticized the organization's cautious approach particularly to high-profile controversies. After one confrontation with the organisation's moderates, Reed resigned in 1968. He would return and serve another term as president of the New York state conference of the NAACP.

In his later years, Reed served in a number of government advisory roles, including as a special consultant on civil rights to a committee advising New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, although this didn't stop him publicly criticizing the government. Reed also acted as an affirmative action consultant to the Babylon town supervisor, frequently advocating for electoral reform and increased minority representation.

Awards and honours The Eugene T. Reed Award was established about 1962 and is awarded annually by the New York state NAACP to an outstanding member of the association.

Death and legacy Eugene Reed died on September 25, 2002, at his home in Amityville, New York. He was survived by his wife, Jane, and their three children. Reed was interred at Calverton National Cemetery.