Henry Ell Frye

Henry Ell Frye. Image Source: Blackpast.org

The Honorable Henry Ell Frye, the first African American chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, is not primarily known for his contributions to the ECU history. Instead, Frye is most widely known for his early opposition, in the 1950s, to voting rights restrictions, his service as the first African American assistant U.S. District Attorney, his tenure as a state representative in the North Carolina General Assembly, then as a state senator, then as a justice, and finally as chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. Little known but quite significant is that, in 1974, at a crucial juncture in the General Assembly’s consideration of legislation funding expansion of the recently created one-year medical school at East Carolina, Frye, then a state senator, emerged as the crucial tiebreaker, lending his decisive support to expansion. In doing so, Frye didn’t simply concur, he used his legislative clout to further the cause of minority recruitment, decisively shaping the mission of the ECU Medical School. That ECU’s Brody School of Medicine has since emerged with distinction as one of the most diverse and inclusive in the nation has much to do with Frye’s pivotal vote and his amendment stipulating that recruitment and training of minority students be a focus of the new school.

In 1972-1973, ECU’s one-year medical school, including 20 students, successfully completed its first year. In 1974, despite the strong efforts by then ECU president, Dr. Leo W. Jenkins, vice-chancellor for health affairs, Dr. Edwin H. Monroe, and others calling for expansion of ECU’s fledgling, one-year medical school, the UNC Board of Governors, established in 1971, remained divided with those from the Piedmont and western part of the state opposing, and those from the east supporting expansion. Gov. James E. Holshouser, a native of Boone, a graduate of the UNC Law School, and a strong supporter of the UNC Board of Governors, publicly expressed his opposition to expanding the ECU med school. To help resolve the matter, a blue-ribbon panel was appointed to make a recommendation. Its report, however, sided with those opposed, stating that North Carolina’s medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill was sufficient, and that expansion of ECU’s was not needed.

At that juncture, ECU strategically pivoted from academic channels to political ones: Sen. Ralph H. Scott, D-Alamance, and Rep. Carl Stewart, D-Gaston, co-chairs of the Joint Appropriations Committee, led the way by including in the general appropriations bill $15 million funding for expansion of ECU’s med school and instructions that the UNC Board of Governors increase ECU med school enrollment from 20 to 40, add a second year to the program, and construct a basic medical sciences building. The Joint Appropriations Committee approved the Scott-Stewart Bill, 49-28. Earlier a vote within the committee, 40-39, had favored including expansion within the general appropriations bill rather than in a separate and surely more controversial bill. The deciding vote was cast by Rep. Henry Frye, D-Guilford, in favor of expansion. Along the way, amendments provided that the growing ECU Medical School concentrate on training family physicians and that it work with UNC’s Medical School to gain accreditation for the expanded two-year program. The Scott-Stewart bill eventually passed, effectively overriding the UNC Board of Governors efforts, as well as the views of Gov. Holshouser, opposing ECU’s plans expanding its med school.

Additionally, Frye asked that the ECU Medical School make special efforts to recruit minorities. Frye’s vote not only saved the day for ECU’s hopes for expansion, his proposal, which was approved as part of the appropriations bill’s provision for ECU expansion, decisively influenced the future of the growing school: the ECU Medical School thereby had, as part of its mission, a commitment to recruit and train minorities. That mission continues to define Brody Medical School, helping to make it among the most diverse in the nation. That achievement was one for which the Honorable Henry E. Frye, with his decisive vote and legislative voice, deserves credit. In providing wise counsel and political leadership on the matter, Frye stands as one of East Carolina’s most distinguished and progressive friends.

Sources:

• “Andrew A. Best, M.D.” Marion Blackburn, interviewer. September 28, 2000. The PCMH Collections. https://web.lib.ecu.edu/pcmh/interviews/interview_pages/best_int.htm
• “Biographical Conversations with Henry Frye.” Biographical Conversations with James Goodmon. PBS North Carolina. https://video.pbsnc.org/video/biographical-conversations-episode-1-officer-and-scholar/
• Covington, Howard E. Henry Frye: North Carolina’s First African American Chief Justice. McFarland, 2013.
• “ECU Vote Disappoints Governor.” News and Observer. February 27, 1974. Pp. 1, 12.
• “Oral History Interview with Dr. Andrew Best.” Ruth Moskop, interviewer. November 3, 1999. Laupus Library History Collections. East Carolina University. Greenville, N.C. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/39737
• Guillory, Ferrell. “Jenkins Firm On Med School.” News and Observer. August 11, 1973. Pp. 1, 6.
• “Henry Frye.” NCPedia. https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/henry-frye
• Holiday, Rob. “A lifetime of building bridges.” Dynamic Minds. https://www.unc.edu/discover/henry-frye/
• “Interview with Andrew Best.” April 19, 1997. Interview R-0011. Karen Kruse Thomas, interviewer. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, N.C. https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/html_use/R-0011.html
• “Interview with Henry Ell Frye.” February 18 and 26, 1992. Amy Boening, interviewer.
• Interview C-0091. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, N.C. https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/html_use/C-0091.html
• McBride, Bill. “Scott Says ECU Bill A Guide.” Burlington Daily Times-News. February 27, 1974. B1.
• “Under the Dome.” News and Observer. May 29, 1973. P. 6.
• Wayne, Leslie. “ECU Expansion OKd by Panel.” News and Observer. February 27, 1974. Pp. 1, 12.

Additional Related Material

Henry Ell Frye (far right) takes part in a 2002 panel discussion that commemorated the 50th anniversary of desegregation at ECU. Image Source: The Daily Reflector

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