Thomas Reed | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Thomas_Reed_campaigning_1966.jpg) Thomas Reed campaigning in 1966 | |
| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
| In office November 9, 1970 – November 18, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | James Paulk (31st) |
| Succeeded by | George Clay (82nd) |
| In office 1995 – October 27, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | George Clay (82nd) |
| Succeeded by | Johnny Ford (82nd) |
| Constituency | 31st district (1970-1975) 67th district (1975-1983) 82nd district (1983-1988; 1995-1997) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1927 Brookhaven, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 1997 |
| Political party | National Democratic Democratic |
| Spouse | Seretta |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Tuskegee Institute |
Thomas J. Reed Sr. (1927 − October 27, 1997) was a civil rights leader, restaurant owner, and politician who served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1970 to 1988, and 1995 to 1997, as a member of the Democratic Party. He served as president of the Alabama NAACP from 1969 to 1979, and 1985 to 1989.[1]
Reed was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and educated at the Tuskegee Institute. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Tuskegee in 1968, before being elected president of the Alabama NAACP, which he would hold almost continuously until 1989. State Representative James Paulk defeated Reed for the Democratic nomination in 1964 and 1970, but Reed won the 1970 election with the nomination of the National Democratic Party of Alabama. He and Fred D. Gray Sr. were the first two African Americans elected to Alabama's legislature in the 20th century.
During Reed's tenure in the state legislature he chaired the Public Welfare committee and unsuccessfully ran for speaker pro tem. He served as a delegate to multiple Democratic National Conventions between 1972 and 1988. Reed led an unsuccessful attempt, where he and 13 other legislators were arrested, to remove the Confederate Flag from above the Alabama State Capitol.
In 1977, Reed was convicted for attempting to bribe T. Dudley Perry and removed from office, but his conviction and removal were reversed. He was convicted in 1988 for violating the Hobbs Act and Travel Act to aid in the parole of Anthony Dennis Chesser and served a sentence from December 1989 to April 1991, and was on parole until October 1993. Reed returned to the state legislature in the 1994 election and died in office.
- ^ "Judge Huffman Explains Opposition To Reed's Election". Union Springs Herald. August 30, 1989. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.