User:CarolGHart/Mattye Reed

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Mattye Marie (Scott) Reed (July 1, 1918 –Dec. 11 2003) grew up in Plaquemine, Louisiana, raised by her grandparents. Reed started her career as a nurse and in 1942 was one of the first African American public health nurses in East Baron Rouge Parish with the Louisiana State Board of Health. She married Dr. William Reed later that year, in 1946 traveling to Liberia with the State Department due to Dr. Reed expertise on soil chemistry. They moved to Greensboro in 1949 when her husband became dean of NC A&T's School of Agriculture. Reed helped integrate public health in Greensboro in 1959 when she became one of the first African American nurses at Moses Cone Hospital. She again moved with her family to Africa during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Upon returning to Greensboro, she started a new career founding the Afro American Ctlal;d;afd;a;.In 1985 the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center at North Carolina A&T University was dedicated.

https://www.ncat.edu/caes/alumni/agriculture-hall-of-fame.php

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Family

Reed's grandfather was the overseer on Belle Alliance plantation. She married William Reed in 1942, and the couple had three daughters: Edwarda, Carol Ann, and Bernetiae. Mattye. While in Africa Mattye and daughters had some beautiful silk garments made by local seamstresses, it was easy to get Asian silk there. And the girls bought some items, like pants suits in London when they traveled back and forth.

returned to live in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s

Professional Career

Reed was in the medical field for thirty years as a nurse Reed lived in Ghana, Nigeria, and Ethiopian for thirteen years where she was employed as a part-time embassy nurse and served as a volunteer in public health, before resettling in Greensboro, She was active in the community and affiliated with organizations including the YWCA, UAC of Greensboro, Greensboro Historical Museum, NC humanities commission and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In 1993, Reed was awarded the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award by the North Carolina Folklore Society for contributing to the preservation and transmission of folklife in North Carolina.

She worked as director from 72-88

Legacy

Bernetiae donated 109 items from their family to the museum in 2017. The collection includes African clothing, musical instruments and household items used or made in Africa. There are paintings made by Mattye and her daughters and other family memorabilia and academic references for Dr Reed. There is an archival coll. #243 with videos, photograph and printed material ca. 1920s – 2015.

n 1985 the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center at North Carolina A&T University was dedicated.

https://www.ncat.edu/caes/alumni/agriculture-hall-of-fame.php

Mrs. Reed was a pioneer in the field of nursing. In 1942, she became one of the first "colored" public health nurses in East Baton Rouge Parish with the Louisiana State Board of Health. In 1959, she broke the color barrier again when she became one of the first African American staff nurses at Moses Cone Hospital. As director and instructor of practical nursing for Dudley High School, she helped implement a two-year vocational practical nursing program. Her other nursing experiences include serving as a public health nurse for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Ala. and the Greensboro Polio Hospital. She also taught briefly at Southern University and Tuskegee Institute. When her husband received an assignment in Nigeria, she was employed as a part-time embassy nurse and served as a volunteer in public health