TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Vincent E. Reed 1928–2017 Assistant Secretary of Education, Superintendant of DC Schools, Journalist V incent Emory Reed (Tau 1951), the former D.C. Public Schools superin- tendent who gained na- Reed joined the D.C. school system in 1956 and ascended the ranks from shop teacher to administrator.
Donald E. Graham, former pub- lisher of The Washington Post. “A lot of people thought he was the best school superintendent the city ever had. He was a man of perfect integrity, and he was willing to do anything where kids were concerned.” Brother Reed “brought this sense of stability and hope, and people had great confidence,” said Mary Levy, a longtime monitor of the school district through the group Parents United for the D.C. Pub- lic Schools. “It was a big contrast with what had gone before, with all the tumult.” Brother Reed assumed the superintendency at a delicate moment for the city and for the district. In the 12 years before his tenure, the district had gone
He was the first Black principal of the largely white Wilson High School in Northwest Washington before be- ing named by the D.C. school board to the district’s top job in 1975. He stepped down in 1980 after rancor- ous disputes with the elected board members, but he maintained a reputation as one of the most popular superintendents in D.C. history. One of his signature victories — although it was not achieved until after his superintendency — was the creation of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, a selective magnet school in Northwest for high- achieving students. “Vince Reed was one of the real heroes of Washington, D.C.,” said
tional renown in the 1970s when he led the long-troubled district through a period of administrative stability and student achievement, died on October 17, 2017. He was 89. Brother Reed retired in 1998 as The Washington Post’s vice president for communications, a position he held for 16 years. Be- fore joining The Washington Post, his stint as assistant secretary of education made him one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the Reagan administration. A former Golden Gloves boxing champion, all-American football tackle and Army officer, Brother
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