Justice Henry E. Frye and Shirley T. Frye to Lead this Year’s Homecoming Parade as Grand Marshals

The Greensboro community will see some familiar faces on Saturday, Nov. 4, for the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Homecoming Parade, the Honorable Justice Henry E. Frye Sr. and Shirley T. Frye will take the lead in the parade as grand marshals. The parade will start at Lindsay and Morrow streets at 8 a.m. ET where it will come to an end on Laurel Street.

The Fryes graduated from North Carolina A&T in 1953 and went on to become local, state, and national trailblazers, each in their own right.

Henry Frye graduated from A&T with the highest honors, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. He joined the Air Force upon graduation serving his country in Korea and Japan. Despite his high academic achievement and military service, he was denied the right to vote in North Carolina through the literacy test that was designed to prevent African Americans from participating in the governmental elections. He decided to become a lawyer and work to undo systemic racism across the state.

When he returned home, he married Shirley Taylor on Aug. 25, 1956. Henry met Shirley during their educational journey at A&T and had two children, Henry Frye Jr. and Harlan Frye.

In 1959, Henry graduated from the University of North Carolina Law School, the first African-American student to do so. He was named an assistant U.S. District Attorney in 1963, the first African American to hold that position. Just five years later, he became the first African American in the 20th Century to be elected to the N.C. General Assembly, where he served six terms.

In 1983, Gov. James B. Hunt appointed Henry Frye to the North Carolina Supreme Court, making him the court’s first African American justice. He served with distinction for 16 years, elected to his first full-term position in 1984, then re-elected in 1992. In 1999, he earned the distinction of being named chief justice by Hunt and served until retiring in 2001.

The Fryes are a living example of Aggies who endured racial injustice in the segregated South and became public servants working to undo inequalities.

Shirley Frye earned her bachelor’s degree in education and English and went on to teach at Washington Elementary School. She earned her master’s degree in special education and psychology to become a special education teacher serving the Greensboro community.

In 1970, she became the first African American president of the YWCA of Greensboro after leading the merger with the city’s two segregated organizations. She served on the National YWCA board from 1973-1993. She also served on the board of education for Greensboro City Schools, as vice chairwoman of the United Way of Greensboro and was a former administrator for Bennett College and A&T. For more than 10 years, she was the vice president of community relations for the Greensboro CBS affiliate, WFMY-TV, where she won an Emmy Award.

In 1985, Shirley Frye also earned North Carolina’s highest civilian award, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. This award honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments.

In May 2016, the YWCA Greensboro honored Shirley Frye by naming its newly renovated facility the Shirley T. Frye YWCA Greensboro. In 2017, she earned The (Greensboro) News & Record Woman of the Year Award, and in 2022 she received the Triad Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business Special Achievement Award. A year later, Henry Frye received the inaugural Leader in Diversity Legacy Award at his alma mater.

By the end of 2023, the Fryes will have a statue in their honor located at Center City Park in Greensboro.