Dr. AnneReid

Dr. Anne eid, a distinguished professor of dramatic arts, stage director, and academic, passed away on February 13, 1997, at the Sarah R. Neuman Nursing Home in Mamaroneck, New York. She was 89 years old.

Early Life and Family Legacy

Anne Cooke Reid was born on October 6, 1907, in Washington, D.C., into a family with a profound legacy of education, architecture, and public service. Her father, William Wilson Cooke, was one of the first recognized Black architects in Gary, Indiana. He designed numerous buildings in Gary and worked for the U.S. government, supervising the construction of post offices. Her mother, Anna Miller Cooke, was the daughter of Thomas E. Miller, a lawyer, educator, and politician. Miller was a pioneering African American legislator in South Carolina and one of the few Black representatives elected to Congress in the Jim Crow-era South. He also served as the first president of South Carolina State University.

Through her maternal lineage, Anne was connected to notable historical figures. Her great-great-grandfather, Thomas Heyward Jr., was a Founding Father of the United States and a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. Other distinguished relatives included DuBose Heyward, author of Porgy, the novel that inspired George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess.

Additionally, her maternal great-grandfather, Dr. William Hume, was a Yale-educated physician who studied in Paris and London. He was entrusted as the sole guardian of The Citadel during the Civil War and was briefly held hostage by Union forces when Charleston was occupied in 1865. Dr. Hume fathered children with Julia MacBeth, a free Black woman in 1860, further enriching Anne Cooke Reid’s diverse heritage.

Education and Early Career

Raised in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Anne pursued higher education at Oberlin College in Ohio, where she graduated in 1928. While at Oberlin, she became a charter member of the Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, in 1925.

Following her graduation, she joined Spelman College in Atlanta as a professor of English literature. There, she founded the Atlanta Summer Theater, marking the beginning of her lifelong dedication to theater education.

Contributions to Theater and Academia

Dr. Reid played a pivotal role in developing theater programs at historically Black colleges and universities. She was the founding chairwoman of the theater department at Howard University and was instrumental in creating the first Black summer theater in the United States at Spelman College. A dedicated educator, she was affectionately known to her students as "Queen Anne." Renowned historian Darlene Clark Hine later credited Reid as "a major figure responsible for providing high-quality training" to aspiring Black actors and dramatists in the mid-20th century.

In 1942, she earned her doctorate in fine arts from Yale University and later led a group of Howard University student actors to Norway to perform Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck. She later returned to Norway as a Fulbright Scholar, further cementing her international reputation.

Later Career and Personal Life

In 1951, Dr. Reid left Howard University. In 1958, she married Dr. Ira De Augustine Reid, a prominent sociology professor at Haverford College. Together, they spent a year in Japan and another in Nigeria, where he served as a visiting professor. After Dr. Reid’s passing in 1961, Anne returned to academia, teaching dramatics and communications at Merrill College, University of California, Santa Cruz, and later at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

After retiring in 1985, she moved to Washington, D.C. In 1991, her health declined, leading to her move to the Sarah R. Neuman Nursing Home in 1993.

Legacy

Dr. Anne Margaret Cooke Reid’s contributions to theater education and the development of Black dramatic arts remain significant. Her work at Spelman, Howard, and beyond helped shape generations of actors, playwrights, and theater professionals.

She is survived by her brother, Lloyd Miller Cooke of White Plains, New York, a noted chemist.