Dr. John Edward Reinhardt was born to Edward Reinhardt and Alice Miller Reinhardt in Glade Spring, Virginia, on March 8, 1920. The family moved to Knoxville by 1927. John graduated from Austin High School before matriculating at Knoxville College in 1939, where he was class president. He attended the University of Chicago and entered the US Army on July 30, 1942, amid World War II. He served in the 372nd Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he attained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. Lt. Reinhardt briefly deployed to the Philippines as a unit commander in the 369th Infantry before separating from the Army in April 1946.
John received a master’s degree (1947) and a PhD in English (1950) from the University of Wisconsin. He taught at Knoxville College, North Carolina State Teachers College, Fayetteville State Teachers College, and Virginia State College, before entering the foreign service under the United States Information Agency (USIA) in 1957. He served as a cultural affairs officer in Manila, Philippines, before moving to the same post in Kyoto, Japan, and then later in Iran. From 1966 to 1971, Reinhardt served as USIA Assistant Director for Africa and the Far East. In 1971, he was appointed as the first Black ambassador to Nigeria. In 1975, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, before heading the USIA from 1977-1980. Following his retirement from the foreign service, Reinhardt served on various boards of directors.
In 1947, Reinhardt married Carolyn Daves, the granddaughter of Charles W. Cansler, and the pair had 3 daughters. He died in 2016.
Knox County Archives, located on the second floor of the East Tennessee History Center, is proud to honor those who have served our country in the armed forces by preserving the history of their service. Team members at Knox County Archives are digitizing military discharges (military form DD-214) that were registered in Knox County, Tennessee. These permanent records represent every conflict from the American Civil War through the Vietnam War and reveal a great deal about a veteran’s service. This biographical and historical information may not exist in any other form due to a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973; it destroyed an estimated 80% of United States Army discharges from World Wars I and II. Using these rare and important DD-214s, Knox County Archives hopes to share the stories of some of East Tennessee’s veterans.
If you have questions about accessing the DD-214s registered in Knox County, please call 865-215-8800, email archives@knoxlib.org, or visit Knox County Archives at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St., Knoxville, TN 37902.
Research by Zachary Keith, County Archives Digital Assistant
