'His influence reached many.' Saying goodbye to John Reed, shepherd for Cape Cod community

Around 1996, Kathleen Clark's teenage son Jahni called her at work to tell her that traffic signs throughout their Barnstable neighborhood were spray painted with the words "white kids only."

Kathleen Clark raced home. Upon arrival, she found John Reed standing in her driveway. She didn't know how he knew about the incident, but he was simultaneously taking care of Jahni, and handling the town manager and police officers who had flooded her home.

"I was filled with fear — I felt my son was in jeopardy," Clark said. "But there was John. He didn't have to raise his voice. He just stood up and said enough."

A former African American, history and social studies teacher and equity officer at Barnstable High School, Reed was known for his ability to mentor and guide children of color in a multitude of capacities, said Clark.

Reed died at 9:30 p.m. Friday due to complications associated with Parkinson's disease and a stroke he suffered in September 2022, said his wife Karen.

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John Reed - a civil and human rights icon

Reed founded the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission in 2005 and created the Human Rights Academy for Cape students, established the annual Human Rights awards breakfast and the Friends of the Human Rights Fund. In 2021, he received the Commission’s Rosenthal Community Champion award, said Jeanne Morrison, current chair of the commission.

Reed also served as vice president and president of NAACP Cape Cod; and co-founded the Zion Union Heritage Museum in Hyannis in 2007, along with Harold Tobey, the first Black police officer for the town of Barnstable. The museum was created to celebrate African-American, Cape Verdean, Wampanoag, Brazilian and Caribbean people and their histories, according to its website.

For Karen Reed, of Yarmouth, the overall vision for her husband's endeavors was to bring people together, and help young people move forward.

"What's happening now, is that a lot of younger people that he mentored are sort of taking his place," she said. "That's exactly what he wanted to happen."

Reed began mentorships as a junior in high school

John and Karen Reed met in junior high school in Dorchester, and attended Dorchester High School together, which is now known as TechBoston Academy.

"Junior prom was our first date but we also went to the senior prom together," said Reed.

She remembers John Reed, in junior high school, had an affinity for tutoring his classmates in history.

"That kind of pinpoints where his mentorship endeavors began," she said. "He had a lot of summer jobs like at Upward Bound, teaching history and tutoring."

After graduating high school, John Reed attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Karen Reed went to Northeastern University. They visited each other periodically, and then got hitched in 1977.

"He moved down to the Cape first and then after we were married, I moved down here to be with him," Karen Reed said.

'He insisted that I carry myself with dignity.'

Jeanne Morrison's first encounter with John Reed was at Barnstable High School. He inspired her to learn about civil rights and the beauty of her race, she said.

"He insisted that I carry myself with dignity," she said. "He was my mentor, and as an adult, I learned to call him a friend."

Also a teacher's union president, Reed was awarded the 2008 Human & Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association.

Morrison also mentioned the Imani Club, a group that John Reed founded in about 1973. The club gathered once a week to talk about cultural history, and also took students of color to Boston for field trips and college tours.

"We went to events like 'Lady that Sings the Blues' featuring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, and we went to see plays and musicals like 'Godspell,'" she said. "He helped us find our place in the world as thriving important people." Carl Lopes, a local artist and former head of Barnstable High School's Art Department, also mentioned the Imani Club and said it was one of Reed's greatest gifts to the community.

"That caring attitude was phenomenal and a great example for all of us," he said. "John and Karen didn't have children but they went out of way to work with kids of the community."

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Collaboration leads to similar clubs in Falmouth

Reed's efforts to support students of color also extended into Falmouth High School, said Debra Dagwan, a former Barnstable School Committee and Barnstable Town Council member. Dagwan was a member of the Imani club, and her experience motivated her to launch the Cultural Awareness Club at Falmouth High School, with George Spivey and Reed.

"We ended up exposing Black students to skiing and that was eye-opening to them," she said. "This was a great way to bring both clubs and kids of all races together."

Reed and Dagwan also started “Gospel Impersonators” in Falmouth in the 1990s — a program that explored the history of gospel music and included people aged 4 to 89. The group performed gospel pieces, she said, and one year John Reed sang "Highway to Heaven," a hymn originally written by Thomas A. Dorsey.

"We wanted it to be something that was uplifting," she said. "And it was. Everyone came together and we learned from each other."

Teacher of color recruitment efforts at Barnstable High School

Reed also launched recruitment efforts at Barnstable High School for teachers of color, said Dagwan. Area schools were sending out notices that they were looking for educators of color because they wanted to diversify their staff. Spivey, Reed and others collaborated and utilized their connections to historically Black colleges and universities, she said.

"They were able to get a message across to them that there were openings here and it worked out pretty good," she said.

Mentorships continue at Zion Union Heritage Museum

Lopes met Reed when the two attended UMass Amherst together. Reed, he said, wasn't only a mentor to children and teenagers. He was also a mentor to adults.

"Because of his civic pride, and Black pride, he wanted to move everybody to a better place," said Lopes.

For the last 15 years, Reed helped cultivate a vision behind the Zion Union Heritage Museum, creating the cultural heart of the Cape area, Lopes said.

David Purdy, of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Action Team, often worked with Reed on cultural events at the museum. One spring, Purdy said, Reed collected a huge amount of golf bags and golf clubs from yard and estate sales, stashing them in the museum. "Come to find out, he had created a summer program for kids to learn to play golf," said Purdy.

For Pamela Chatterton-Purdy, an artist who has a permanent exhibition at the museum, Reed was always dropping knowledge.

"The man was a history buff, and I always wished I had a notebook and a pen when he was around," she said.

Reflecting on a legacy

Through tears, Karen Reed said that her husband's last days were filled with difficulty. When the stroke hit him, she said he couldn't talk or walk.

"He was the kind of person that wanted everyone to believe that he was strong," she said. "He was ready to go at that moment. I feel like I've lost my best friend."

Since Reed's death, Lopes has heard many stories from people throughout the region who remember him fondly. He described him as a shepherd for the community."People always say that when loved ones die, they will be in a better place," he said. "But John has always been in a good place. And his influence reached many throughout his lifetime, who will carry on his traditions."

Contact Rachael Devaney at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Remembering John Reed: Cape Cod mentor, leader, civil rights champion