Bluford Library Archive – Becoming Justice Henry Frye Part II

When Lt. Henry Ell Frye graduated from the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in May 1953, and he went into military service, he was far from done with Aggieland or the city of Greensboro. Through civil service, his law practice, teaching, fundraising and volunteering, Justice Frye has given continuously to this community for over 70 years. 

In a 1955 edition of the old “Alumni Newsletter,” which predates the “A&T Today”, Lt. Frye was listed as one of the youngest alumni donors for the university. He would eventually serve on the executive committee and as parliamentarian for the North Carolina A&T State University Alumni Association, Inc. In 1972, due to his service to the university, city, state and the nation, he was the very first recipient of the Alumni Excellence Award in the highest honor presented to active alumni. 

Throughout Frye’s life experiences, he made new friends, and mentors, that would shape his life for decades to come. During his military service in Japan, he would look forward to the letters he would receive from Shirley Taylor Frye. The courtship that began when they were on the debate team in 1950 blossomed into romance and finally to a wedding planned for August 25, 1956. It was on the day before, when he attempted to register to vote, and was denied, that would change the course of his life.

Frye enrolled in the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time, he was the only African American student. He graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in 1959, then opened his own law practice in Greensboro, where him and his wife settled. “The First” was a phrase used at North Carolina A&T continuously to describe Frye. This would continue shortly after his law practice began when he became the first member of color in the Greensboro Bar Association. 

In all his endeavors, Frye would receive wide support from A&T. For his 1968 campaign of the North Carolina House of Representatives, his campaign chairman was Samuel Cooper Smith, the former dean of the technical institute at A&T and the College of Science and Technology building is named after him, Smith Hall. With his election to the N.C. House, Aggies could boast of Frye as being the first Black elected to the House in the 20th century. As a double victory for Aggieland and African-Americans in North Carolina, Elreta Alexander (Melton) ‘39 was campaigning at the same time to be the first District Court Judge in Guilford County.

The Greensboro National Bank founded by Rep. Frye began on November 2, 1971 with capital totaling $700,000. One of the goals of this bank was to create opportunities for Black bankers for the Black communities. The bank later opened its doors in a downtown building in 1973. The bank was infused with many Aggie connections. With Henry Frye as president, six out of nine of its initial directors were also Aggies. A&T personnel assisted with the survey required for the bank charter. The building was designed by W. Edward Jenkins, the legendary Aggie architect who designed Truist Stadium (formerly known as Aggie Stadium), and Ronald McNair Hall. Among many projects on behalf of A&T, Greensboro National Bank partnered with other businesses to purchase the original scoreboard for the Truist Stadium in 1981. 

The Greensboro National Bank also shares a long heritage of Aggies and banking for African-Americans in Greensboro. Prior to the GNB, President James B. Dudley and other faculty/staff at A&T incorporated the Pioneer Building and Loan Association in 1902. Also, civil rights attorney and fellow UNC-Chapel law student J. Kenneth Lee ’46, created the American Federal Loans and Savings and Loan Association in Greensboro in 1959. This means that three out of four Black-owned banks in Greensboro were established by Aggies. 

Along with the Greensboro National Bank, Justice Frye’s civic and community service to the city of Greensboro encompass care, teaching, justice, and devotion all populations; the Hayes-Taylor YMCA, serving as vice-president of the Greensboro Legal Aid Foundation, a life member of the NAACP and a member of the National Black Child Development Institute.

The voice and presence of Frye has never been far from the Aggie student body. He regularly gave interviews with the A&T Register, giving wisdom about voting and being a good citizen. 

Each time Frye was re-elected to the House in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, and 1978, and when he sought the Senate in 1980, he received full support of the publication that he and Shirley Frye wrote for only 20 years earlier. 

Aggies and North Carolina citizens everywhere were thrilled when Frye was nominated as the state’s first justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. His appointment was made effective Feb. 1, 1983. If you know basic A&T history, starting on that day and month is truly special for an Aggie that has broken so many racial barriers. He ran for re-election in 1984 and was endorsed by the 6th Congressional Black Leadership Caucus along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson ’64 for president.

Justice Frye has also been an honorary speaker at the Gibbs Lecture in the Department of History and Political Science and A&T’s Honor’s Convocations. When Frye became the first African American Chief Justice of North Carolina and the 25th person in the role in 1999, Chancellor James C. Renick announced “Henry E. Frye Honors Program Endowment” for outstanding incoming students. The university created a Henry Frye Pre-Law Society which is encouraged for liberal studies pre-law students. Beginning in 2001, he began teaching at A&T in the political science department. The first Justice Frey professorship was announced in 2006. The current Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professorship is held by author and historian, Jelani Favors Ph.D. ’97. 

In the 2022-2023 NCAT Student Handbook, and several of the other recent editions given to freshmen, Frye heads the list of “A&T’s nationally acclaimed alumni.” 

Today’s students are still learning from the life and legacy of Justice Frye, whether it is from studying his gifted collection to the F. D. Bluford Library Archives, learning about civil rights in Greensboro, or shaking hands and engaging with him in conversation around Aggieland and the city of Greensboro. 

The Justice Henry E. and Shirley T. Frye Collection was gifted to the F.D. Bluford Library by the Fryes in 2022. Their collection is one of the most comprehensive records acquired from alumni. A dedicated team of faculty and staff in the F.D. Bluford Library are working continuously to arrange this collection for researchers.

For more information about this story or any topic in A&T history, please email the University Archives at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.