Photograph of James Lafayette “Fay” Reed with Bicycle

Charlie Alison, alumnus, staff member

This photo is among my favorites because of my love of bicycling and history. It shows James Lafayette “Fay” Reed with his ordinary bicycle, better known today as a “high-wheel” bicycle or a “penny farthing.” Reed attended the university’s Preparatory Department before taking at least a couple of years worth of college-level courses in the mid-1880s. The photo came to me from Dixie Rhyne, who discovered about a dozen photographs of the Reed family that had been tossed in a dumpster. Other family members in the photos who attended the university include sister Lina X. Reed, who graduated in 1881 and then taught Latin and English in the Preparatory Department; and George W.M. Reed Jr., who graduated in 1884.