Frederick D. Reese

Frederick D. Reese
Reese in hat and coat, marching from Selma to Montgomery, behind and to the right of children
Born	(1929-11-28)November 28, 1929 Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation	Teacher, minister, activist
Movement	Selma Voting Rights Movement

Frederick Douglas Reese, or F. D. Reese, (born November 28, 1929) is a civil rights activist, educator, and minister from Selma, Alabama. Known as a member of Selma's "Courageous Eight," Reese was the president of the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) when that organization invited the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King Jr. to come to Selma to amplify the city's local voting rights campaign. This campaign eventually gave birth to the Selma to Montgomery marches, which later led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Reese was also president of the Selma Teachers Association, and in January 1965 he mobilized Selma's teachers to march as a group for their right to vote. Reese retired from teaching and as of February 2015 was still active as a minister at Selma's Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church.

Reese graduated from Alabama State University, where he majored in math and science. He received a Master's degree in education from Livingston University and two degrees from Selma University: a Doctorate of Divinity and an educational specialist's degree.

Reese spent nine years in Miller's Ferry, Alabama, ending in 1960. This is where he began his teaching career, teaching science and serving as assistant principal.

In 1960, Reese moved home to Selma, started teaching science and math at R. B. Russell High School, and joined the Dallas County Voters League, the major civil rights organization in Selma since the state of Alabama started actively suppressing the NAACP in 1956. Two years after joining the DCVL, he was elected its president.

In 1962, while Reese was a DCVL member, the organization encouraged Bernard Lafayette of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to come to Selma to assist in the voting rights struggle by educating black citizens about their right to vote.

As president of the Dallas County Voters League, Reese signed and sent the DCVL's invitation to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to come to Selma to lend their support to the voting rights campaign there. King and the SCLC agreed to come, and they started their public engagement in Selma's voting rights campaign on January 2, 1965, with a mass meeting in violation of an injunction against large gatherings.