Ray E. Reid

Ray Reid served as Superintendent of Arlington County public schools in the late 1950s. He was born in Nansemond County, Virginia, and was graduated from the College of William and Mary. Reid was a teacher, coach, and principal before becoming the assistant superintendent of public instruction for the state in 1951. In 1957 Reid was passed over to lead the state's public education system because Governor Thomas B. Stanley and pro-segregationist state legislators did not endorse him. Reid gained the unanimous approval of the Arlington School Board and was hired as superintendent May 13, 1958. Reid described himself as a "moderate thinker in the field of education." Reid was often criticized by liberals for "foot dragging" but managed to guide the Arlington schools through desegregation and into prominence as one of the best public systems in the nation. He retired in May 1969. (Washington Post, May 13, 1958)