William F. Reid

1994 Honoree

Many African-American physicians play a dual role in their communities: healers and change agents. Their education and their historic position in the black community place them in these roles. Dr. William F. Reid, a native of Richmond, graduate of Virginia Union University and Howard University Medical School, lives up to this tradition exceedingly well.

During the Korean War, Reid was a navy surgeon saving lives at a field hospital near the front. He returned to Richmond in 1955 when mony people believed the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court's decision against school segregation would speed the process of equal opportunity for African-Americans.

Alarmed by attitudes of certain state officials and the constant road blocks placed in the path of civil rights for black people, Reid mobilized Virginians to form Crusade for Voters. Their efforts were so successful that it became a national model for voter education and registration.

Reid's crusade drew him into politics. He was elected to the state's General Assembly in 1967, the first black American since Reconstruction to win this honor. This strong man left the General Assembly in 1973, and four years later became the first black American physician to serve as a medical officer for the U.S. State Department. In this capacity, he practiced medicine all over the world and received additional training in the treatment of addictive diseases.

Retired since 1990, he has continued to raise money for medical services at the local, national, and international levels. More importantly, his special training in addictive diseases helps him treat people with alcohol and drug addiction. Reid has truly lived up to his dual role as healer and change agent.