Scholarship History:
The Charles H. Reid, D. V. M. Memorial Scholarship was established by funds endowed to the University of Hawaii at Manoa by the late Charles H. Reid, D. V. M., of Hollywood , California .
The donor, Charlie Reid, was the son of a British Army Officer and was raised in aristocratic settings in England . He finally obtained his strict father's permission to emigrate to the U. S. alone at the age of 15, to seek a "rough and independent" life. Upon arriving, the future Dr. Reid embarked on a "Jack London" type of life; criss-crossing the U.S. as a lumberjack, railroad worker, cowboy, coal-miner, farm hand and oil-driller. He even "rode the rails" for a while.
His skill and interest in horses led him to enroll in a 3-year course at the Kansas City Veterinary College (now defunct), graduating in 1918. This began a long (62 years) and illustrious career in veterinary medicine. After a few years caring for 2000 horses in Chicago and then as a deputy veterinarian in Oklahoma , he headed west. He arrived in California 's San Fernando Valley when it was still farms and ranches. He cared for the farm animals in the area, but his lifelong specialty and interest were horses. As the area developed, he took on the role as the "Hollywood Veterinarian". With the developing movie industry, Dr. Reid was in charge of the movie sets when animals were involved, especially in the great Hollywood productions such as "Samson and Delilah", "The Egyptian", "Ben Hur" and many westerns. He was the veterinarian to many of Hollywood 's early animal actors such as Roy Roger's Trigger; Lassie, Elsie, the cow; Francis, the talking mule and others. He also treated many of the pets of the "stars".
Dr. Reid was the driving force in obtaining the support of the public and the press, and obtaining the funds for establishing the veterinary school at the University of California at Davis , which accepted its first class in 1948. He served in many leadership capacities in veterinary organizations at the local, state and national levels. He was President of the California Veterinary Medical Association from 1946 - 1947. He was honored as Veterinarian of the Year in both California and Nevada . In 1977, he was the recipient of the first honorary membership given to an out-of-state resident by the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association.
Dr. Reid first came to Hawaii with his beloved wife, Jewell, who died in the early 1970's. After her death, he continued to visit Hawaii regularly and to attend the annual meetings of the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association. He felt very welcome in Hawaii and made many friends here, including many pre-veterinary students. He was a speaker before the pre-veterinary club in the fall of 1978, in his last trip to Hawaii .
Dr. Charles H. Reid, D. V. M., died on July 3, 1979 at the age of 85. Upon his death, he left a sum of $153,394.49 "to a pre-veterinary student scholarship fund to be established at the University of Hawaii at Manoa". He wanted to "make a big splash in a small pond." He did. The first scholarships were awarded in 1983. In the 25 years of its existence, the Dr. Charles H. Reid, D. V. M. Memorial Scholarship has awarded 229 scholarships, totaling $486,400.