Moses A. Riddick Jr. has a deep legacy of service in local government, and though easy-going, he was a fierce advocate for getting his fellow black citizens to vote.

Tireless in those efforts, Riddick was elected to the Nansemond County Board of Supervisors and became the city’s first black vice mayor of Suffolk after a merger in 1974.

Riddick, who was raised in the former Nansemond County and attended Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), was also the first black candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor and was the first black delegate from Virginia to the Democratic National Convention.

Riddick, according to the Annette Montgomery book “Suffolk,” was “responsible for opening the door for many who entered the political arena” and founded the Independent Voter’s League in 1946. In 1947, he led a campaign that made William A. Lawrence the first black person to serve on the Nansemond County Board of Supervisors, according to a 1991 Daily Press article.

In 1963, Riddick helped to organize a Freedom Rally that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Suffolk and later worked with the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to push for better living conditions for Suffolk residents.

“He was a very nice gentleman, easy-going and a very knowledgeable person,” said City Councilman Curtis Milteer. “He was passionate about housing for Afro-Americans. He believed if they had a good home and a good job, they could make a better life for themselves and their families.”

It was not long after that rally, later in 1963, that Riddick, after not winning in his first two attempts to run for the Nansemond County Board of Supervisors, earned a seat on the board.

In the January 1964 issue of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference newsletter, a column called With the Affiliates by then-SCLC Director C.T. Vivian highlighted Riddick’s election.

“Moses A. Riddick, executive secretary of the SCLC affiliate, was elected to the board of supervisors and formally seated on December 29, 1963,” Vivian wrote. “As a result the city is split politically.”

While on the board, Riddick would often face trouble getting motions seconded, but he worked to make living standards universal for blacks and whites, Milteer said, and he wanted blacks to be able to vote, have a good job and a decent place to live.

Riddick was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor and earned 19,672 votes, finishing fourth in a four-way race, according to the Virginia Department of Elections database.

He served on the board until Suffolk merged with the former Nansemond County 1974, and then served on the City Council and at one point was vice mayor while D.J. Mangum Jr. was the mayor.

“What he did was that he encouraged blacks all over the city to be registered,” Milteer said. “I was personally encouraged by him. … I knew my time would come and I was going to run for public office.”

In 1976, Riddick ran for a state Senate seat in a special general election and finished second to J. Lewis Rawls Jr. in a four-way race, picking up 31.5 percent of the vote — 7,086 votes total, according to the Virginia Department of Elections database.

Getting blacks registered to vote was a passion for Riddick, even with the obstacles that stood in the way.

“He knew that there was an advantage to getting Afro-Americans to vote,” Milteer said. “He spent a lot of time getting people registered to vote. He knew he was going to run for office and he knew it would be a benefit to him to get them registered.”

Riddick also faced a more grave danger — being shot at during the process.

In a 2003 interview for the Civil Rights Digital Library, Raymond Boone, the founder, editor and publisher of the Richmond Free Press and former Suffolk News-Herald journalist, in discussing the role of education in his life and growing up in Suffolk, called Riddick an unsung hero for his efforts.

“During the ‘50s it was very dangerous to talk voter registration and voting in the black community,” Boone said in the interview. “As a matter of fact, Mr. Riddick was a target, he was shot upon, and simply because he promoted the precious right or the utilization of the precious right of voter registration.”

Boone said in the interview that Riddick’s presence in his hometown “greatly influenced me in terms of understanding the power of the vote and how precious the vote is.”

After Riddick’s service on the City Council, he worked for the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

In January 1991, a General Assembly resolution honored Riddick “for his long distinguished public career in Nansemond County and the city of Suffolk,” according to the Annette Montgomery book “Suffolk.”

Milteer said Riddick, who was 74 when he died on March 20, 1991, was passionate about serving Suffolk, and was a tireless advocate for voting rights.

“He was very interested in helping people to get their quality of life elevated,” Milteer said.