Born March 3, 1910, in Jacksonville, Florida, Reddick earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, completing his work there in 1933.
In 1939, he married Ella Ruth Thomas and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago, where he wrote his dissertation on The Negro in the New Orleans Press, 1850-1860.
[1] An early advocate of research on the history of all persons of African ancestry world-wide, Reddick had an opportunity to further that vision as curator of the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature at the New York Public Library from 1939 to 1948.
[3] Reddick subsequently held teaching positions at Coppin State Teachers' College in Baltimore (1960–67), Temple (1967–76), Harvard (1977–78), and Dillard (1978-87).
David A. Varel, "To Renew American Democracy, Look to Black Freedom Fighters like Lawrence Reddick," UNC Press Blog, February 3, 2021.