Frederick D. Reese

Frederick Douglas Reese (November 28, 1929 – April 5, 2018) was an American civil rights activist, educator and minister from Selma, Alabama. Known as a member of Selma's "Courageous Eight", Reese was the president of the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) when it invited the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King Jr. to Selma to amplify the city's local voting rights campaign. This campaign eventually gave birth to the Selma to Montgomery marches, which later led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Reese was also president of the Selma Teachers Association, and in January 1965 he mobilized Selma's teachers to march as a group for their right to vote.

Early life Reese was born in Selma, Alabama. He accepted the responsibility of Pastor and joined the front line of the successful march known as the Selma to Montgomery march on the same day.

Selma Voting Rights Movement

In 1960, Reese moved home to Selma, started teaching science and math at R. B. Hudson High School, and joined the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL), the major civil rights organization in Selma since the state of Alabama started actively suppressing the NAACP in 1956. Two years after joining the DCVL, he was elected its president.

On January 18, about 400 people marched on the county courthouse to register to vote; on January 19, the people marched again, and this time police violence towards DCVL's Amelia Boynton and the arrest of 67 marchers brought the movement to national headlines.

Teachers' March In 1965, Reese held the simultaneous leadership positions of DCVL president and president of the Selma Teachers Association. Officials reportedly urged against the teachers' arrest, saying, "Don't arrest these people because what you going do with the 7,000 students that we have running around here when they go back to school Monday?" It was the first time in Civil Rights Movement that teachers in the South publicly marched as teachers; they were the largest black professional group in Dallas County, and their actions inspired involvement from their students and others who were unsure about participating in demonstrations.

Selma to Montgomery marches

During the time the SCLC spent organizing and protesting in Selma, Reese coordinated meetings and often played the role of mediator when differences of opinion arose.

“The Rev. Reese’s involvement made it possible. He helped create the climate for the Voting Rights Act,” Lewis said. “People all over America and many people around the world knew him because he stood out as this nice, upright man. He didn’t make a lot of noise. He just did what he felt was his calling. He was consistent and persistent.”

In creative works Reese was portrayed by E. Roger Mitchell in Ava DuVernay's 2014 film Selma and by Bob Banks in the 1999 film Selma, Lord, Selma.

Honors and awards Frederick Reese with John Lewis and Terri Sewell at a 2016 Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring the March on Selma. April 27, 1999: The State of Alabama's House of Representatives unanimously passed Resolution # HJR 231, which honors Dr. F. D. Reese esteemed influence and impact as a pastor, educator, and civil rights leader. The Alabama Legislature's designated a portion of Highway 80 East from the Edmund Pettus Bridge (Selma, AL) proceeding three miles east as the Dr. Frederick D. Reese Parkway.

May 27, 2000: The City of Selma, Alabama dedicated and celebrated the renaming of the 3 mile stretch of *U.S. Highway 80 beginning at the Edmund Pettus Bridge to honor Dr. Frederick D. Reese. (*The historical location point where "Bloody Sunday" occurred, the pivot point of the Voting Rights Movement and gateway to the Selma to Montgomery March.)

In 2016, Reese and fellow Selma marcher John Lewis accepted Congressional Gold Medals on behalf of the Selma "foot soldiers."

Death Reese died of natural causes on April 5, 2018, in Atlanta at the age of 88.