John Reed, teacher and ‘guiding force for unity' on Cape Cod, dies at 72
Newly hired in 1973 to teach social studies at Barnstable High School, John Reed stepped into a part of Massachusetts where people of color were fa...
Newly hired in 1973 to teach social studies at Barnstable High School, John Reed stepped into a part of Massachusetts where people of color were far fewer than in his Boston childhood. 'I guess I got insulted,' he told the Cape Cod Times, 'when people looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you're a teacher?' " Load Error For Mr. Reed, teaching was more of a calling than a profession, something he did in the classroom and with union colleagues, in the NAACP, and in Cape Cod's neighborhoods. 'John was instrumental in bringing people together and getting them to march in unity,' said Jeanne Morrison, who chairs the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission.