- Henry Simmons Frieze
Infobox Person
name = Henry Simmons Frieze
birth_date =September 15 ,1817
birth_place =Boston ,Massachusetts
death_date =December 7 ,1889
death_place =
resting_place =
resting_coordinates =
nationality =USA
title = Acting President of theUniversity of Michigan (3 times)
predecessor =Erastus Otis Haven
successor =James Burrill Angell
religion = Episcopalian
spouse = Anna Roffee
children =
parents = Jacob Frieze, Betsy (Slade) FriezeHenry Simmons Frieze (
September 15 ,1817 ,Boston –December 7 ,1889 ) was an Americaneducator andacademic administrator . He was an instructor atBrown University and its University Grammar School, aprofessor at theUniversity of Michigan , and served three separate times as acting president of the University of Michigan.Biography
Early Life & 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 ,journalist , and notedpamphleteer . He attended Brown University, playing the organ to support himself. After graduating Brown in1841 , he found work as an instructor in Latin at the university and its associated grammar school, where he worked until1854 .harvnb|Angell|1889] One of his students at the grammar school wasJames Burrill Angell , whose career would later become closely associated with Frieze's at the University of Michigan. He married Anna Roffee in1847 .harvnb|Briggs|1994|p=202]University of Michigan
In 1854, Frieze moved to
Ann Arbor after being appointed chair ofLatin at the University of Michigan. Between1859 and1862 , the Friezes built a large house at 1547 Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor and lived in it until1870 ; known as theHenry S. Frieze House , the home is listed in theNational Register of Historic Places . [http://www.nr.nps.gov/Red%20Books/72000659.red.pdf]When
Erastus Otis Haven resigned as president of the University of Michigan in1869 , the Board of Regents asked Frieze's former pupil James B. Angell, then serving as President of theUniversity of Vermont , to assume the office. He declined, feeling he had work remaining to be done in Vermont. OnAugust 19 , 1869, Frieze was appointed to serve as acting president. [harvnb|University of Michigan Board of Regents|1869] 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,harvnb|Beakes|1906|p=643] 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.harvnb|Angell|1890, cited in harvnb|Wenley|1917|p=124] 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.harvnb|Nemec|2006|pp=110-111]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 June1880 until February1882 while Angell was serving as the U.S. Minister to China and again from October1887 until February1888 while Angell was serving on theInternational Commission of Canadian Fisheries .
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