Atkinson, Edith Reed, 1919-

Classically trained African-American singer and radio-script editor and production scheduler; resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Edith Atkinson studied voice for 14 years as a child and from 1935 to 1940 performed with her brothers Wallace and Cecil Reed in the Gold Flashes dance trio. She also served as the choir director at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Cedar Rapids for 30 years. Beginning in 1943, Atkinson had a radio show on station WMT during which.

she sang requests. She also performed with singer Nat King Cole. In 1952 she began serving as a typist and Spanish translator in the editing department of Collins Radio (now part of Rockwell International) and later became a production scheduler. After her retirement in 1981, Atkinson taught African-American history through her music. In 1997 she received a Woman of the Year Award in celebration of Linn County Women's Equality Day.