John Reed (journalist)
| John Reed | |
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Reed circa 1915
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| Born |
John Silas Reed October 22, 1887 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Died | October 17, 1920 (aged 32) Moscow, Russian SFSR |
| Cause of death | Scrub typhus |
| Resting place | Kremlin Wall Necropolis |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Political party | Communist Labor Party of America |
| Spouse(s) | Louise Bryant (m. 1916; his death 1920) |
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John Silas "Jack" Reed (October 22, 1887 – October 17, 1920) was an American journalist, poet, and socialist activist, best remembered for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World. He was married to writer and feminist Louise Bryant. Reed died in Russia in 1920, and was buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, one of only three Americans to have been given this honor in Russia, the others being labor organizer Bill Haywood, and Charles Ruthenburg, the founder of the Communist Party USA.
John Reed was born on October 22, 1887, in his maternal grandmother's mansion in Portland, Oregon, with Chinese servants in today's Goose Hollow neighborhood. He wrote of paying a nickel to a "Goose Hollowite" (young toughs in a gang in the working-class neighborhood below King's Hill) to keep from being beaten up. A memorial bench overlooks the site of Reed's birthplace in Washington Park. His mother, Margaret Green Reed, was the daughter of a leading Portland citizen who had made a fortune through three enterprises: as owner of the first gas works in Oregon, owner of the first pig iron smelter on the west coast, and as second owner of the Portland water works. John's father, Charles Jerome Reed, was the representative of an agricultural machinery manufacturer who had come to town from the East. With his ready wit, he quickly won acceptance in Portland’s business community. The family's wealth came from the Green side, not the Eastern-transplanted Reed side. His parents were married in 1886.
A sickly child, young "Jack" grew up surrounded by nurses and servants, and his upper-class playmates were carefully selected. His brother, Harry, was two years younger. Jack and his brother were sent to the recently established Portland Academy, a private school. Jack was bright enough to pass his courses but could not be bothered to work for top marks, as he found school dry and tedious. In September 1904, Jack was sent to Morristown School in New Jersey to prepare for college as his father, who never attended a university, wanted his sons to go to Harvard. At this prep school, Jack continued his track record of poor classroom performance, although he did make the football team and showed literary promise.
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