Oral History in Action
Channel: Institute for Policy Studies
Date: 06/03/2017

Talk with Dr. William Ferguson "Fergie" Reid, first Black member of the Virginia General Assembly, part of the Institute for Policy Studies's Liberation in Action 2017 Black History Month series! 

An oral history from Dr. Reid leading up to his continued political activism and hear about how he mentors candidates on how to win elections and activists on “the best way to play the game.”

Dr. William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid was born on March 18, 1925, in Richmond, VA earned his medical degree from Howard University and completed his internship and surgical residency at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St Louis, MO.

After two years in the military, and 22 years in private surgical practice, in 1956 Fergie co-founded the Richmond Crusade for Voters to register and mobilize black voters during massive resistance. Crusade helped guide a Black political maturation that culminated with the election of the first Black majority on Richmond City Council, which picked Henry L. Marsh III as the city’s first black mayor in 1977.

From 1968-1973 – Fergie served as the first Black member of the Virginia General Assembly.