Henry Simmons Frieze (September 15, 1817 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
– December 7, 1889) was an American
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and
academic administrator
Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the Faculty (academic staff), faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint ...
. He was an instructor at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and its University Grammar School, a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and served three separate times as acting president of the University of Michigan.
Early life and Brown University
Frieze was born in Boston on September 15, 1817, the child of Jacob and Betsy Slade Frieze. His father was a
Universalist pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, and noted
pamphleteer
Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation.
Context
Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a polit ...
. He attended Brown University, playing the
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
to support himself. After graduating Brown in 1841, he found work as an instructor in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
at the university and its associated grammar school, where he worked until 1854.
One of his students at the grammar school was
James Burrill Angell
James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan, from 1871 to 1909. He represented the transition from sma ...
, whose career would later become closely associated with Frieze's at the University of Michigan. He married Anna Roffee in 1847.
University of Michigan
![Photograph of Henry Simmons Frieze (published 1906)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Photograph_of_Henry_Simmons_Frieze_%28published_1906%29.jpg)
In 1854, Frieze moved to
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...
after being appointed chair of Latin at the University of Michigan. Between 1859 and 1862, the Friezes built a large house at 1547 Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor and lived in it until 1870; known as the
Henry S. Frieze House, the home is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
When
Erastus Otis Haven
Erastus Otis Haven (November 1, 1820 – August 2, 1881) was an American academic administrator, serving as president or chancellor of three universities in succession from 1863-1880. He was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church from 1880 u ...
resigned as president of the University of Michigan in 1869, the Board of Regents asked Frieze's former pupil
James B. Angell
James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan, from 1871 to 1909. He represented the transition from sma ...
, then serving as President of the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
, to assume the office. He declined, feeling he had work remaining to be done in Vermont. On August 19, 1869, Frieze was appointed to serve as acting president. While in office, he oversaw two major changes at the university. His predecessor, President Haven, had opposed the admission of women to the university, and an attempt by the Board of Regents to allow their admission had failed in 1869. The resolution passed when it was reintroduced in 1870, and the first woman enrolled that same year,
though, at least in the opinion of James Angell, Frieze was not so much a champion of the policy change as he was acquiescent to the wishes of the regents where his predecessor had been vocally opposed.
[, cited in ] He also introduced the "diploma system," whereby students who graduated from college preparatory programs at Michigan high schools that had been accredited by the Board of Regents could enroll at the university without examination.
![henry simmons frieze grave forest hill cemetery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Henry_simmons_frieze_grave_forest_hill_cemetery.JPG)
Frieze served as acting president until 1871, when the offer was repeated to Angell, who this time accepted. He served as acting president twice more, once from June 1880 until February 1882 while Angell was serving as the
U.S. Minister to China and again from October 1887 until February 1888 while Angell was serving on the
International Commission of Canadian Fisheries
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
alongside George Shorey. He was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1884.
Henry Frieze died on December 7, 1889 in Ann Arbor and is buried at
Forest Hill Cemetery.
[
]
Commemoration
* The Frieze Building
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
, formerly Ann Arbor High School
Pioneer High School is a public school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1856, the school was previously called the Union School and Ann Arbor High School. In 2010, Pioneer was listed as a "Silver Medal School" by the '' U.S. News & World R ...
, was purchased by the University of Michigan in 1956. It was demolished in early 2007 to make room for the North Quadrangle Residential and Academic Complex. The new building integrates the facade of the Frieze Building
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
and uses various other pieces of architecture in the service of integrating old and new.
* The Frieze Memorial Organ is a 124-rank pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
housed at the University of Michigan's historic Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847-1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeathe ...
. It was purchased by the University and moved to Ann Arbor in 1894 after it was exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
in Chicago.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frieze, Henry Simmons
1817 births
1889 deaths
People from Boston
Brown University alumni
Brown University faculty
People from Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Michigan faculty
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Burials in Michigan