Members of the Middle Peninsula Amateur Radio Club will be operating from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, which is the day before the 169th birthday of Major Walter Reed, M.D., at his Gloucester birthplace at 4021 Hickory Fork Road.

The Walter Reed Birthplace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The public is invited to attend while observing COVID-19 restrictions and learn about amateur radio. The birthplace will also be open to the public for tours on Saturday.

Reed was born on Sept. 13, 1851 to the Pharaba White Reed and the Rev. Lemuel Reed who was a circuit pastor to the Methodist church in Gloucester. He graduated from medical school at the University of Virginia at age 17 and is still the youngest medical graduate of UVA.

After an extensive career in medicine, he was sent to Cuba to determine the cause and prevention of yellow fever in 1900 following the Spanish-American War. He credited Dr. Carlos Finlay, chief health officer of Cuba, 1902-1909, with dis...