Photographs shape our understanding of history, and some of Reed’s photo essays covered stories of obvious historical importance, such as the Rosenberg protest or JFK as senator.

Others probably seemed less telling at the time, such as the shoot at the home of Tasha Tudor, a well-known children’s book author, or the afternoon he spent at a country auction in Albany, Vermont. In retrospect, though, all of the images tell stories of what it meant to live in 1950s and 1960s New England.

Kennedy: On the day Reed took his first Kennedy photographs, he recalls Mrs. Kennedy telling him that Ashe was writing a book about a young senator on his way to the presidency. The allusion was obvious, but I didn’t take any of it seriously. Over the coming years, Reed would cover Kennedy for both Life and Time, capturing the young senator in his office, on the street, and campaigning for Foster Furcolo (John Foster Furcolo, Governor of Massachusetts, 1957-1961). During the period when Reed photographed JFK, the story was still largely local. Kennedy came from a prominent Boston family, and his presidential aspirations were largely covert. See more.

Country Auction: Characteristically, Reed decided to focus on the people attending this rural antiques auction rather than the event itself. In these images, he seems particularly concerned with the people’s post-auction emotions. As the adrenaline of the sale subsides, does the reality of life with one’s new treasures live up to the earlier anticipation?

Rosenberg: In June 1953, Reed spent an afternoon photographing protesters in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who had been convicted in 1951 on espionage charges for passing secrets about nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union, were scheduled to be executed on June 19, 1953. The emotionally charged conflict spilled into the streets, where supporters of clemency clashed with those who favored the death penalty. A writer for Life magazine was trying to cover the story without the aid of a photographer. Seeing Reed, the reporter asked if he would be willing to cover the protests for him. Reed’s acceptance marked the beginning of his six-year career as a photojournalist for Life. See more.

Muskie: Edmund S. Muskie started politics with a successful 1946 run for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives, where he served three consecutive terms. Reed shows Muskie in his hometown on the day of the 1954 Maine gubernatorial election. Reed’s pictures cover the story from the tension while the results were still coming in to the elation after they revealed Muskie had won. Like Kennedy, Muskie went on to a dramatic political career, becoming the first Democrat in Maine’s history to be elected U.S. senator. He ran for president in 1968 and 1972, and finished his political career as Secretary of State in 1980-1981. See more.

Tasha Tudor: Reed’s Life photo essay, “A Wedding in a Land of Dolls,” described the fanciful wedding of dolls at the home of children’s book author Tasha Tudor. Tudor famously eschewed the trappings of modern living and created instead a carefully constructed world based on nostalgia for pre-modern America. Reed took advantage of his time at Tudor’s house to capture not only the wedding, his assigned subject, but a bit of this remarkable family’s way of life. See more.