GREENSBORO,N.C. — Henry Frye, the first African-American appointed to be chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, was recently honored with a sculpture in the Center City Park in Greensboro. 

What You Need To Know

  • Greensboro now has a new sculpture of Henry Frye and his wife Shirley Frye at Center City Park

  • Henry Frye was the first African American to graduate from UNC School of Law in 1959 and went on to serve as the first African-American Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court

  • Shirley Frye is a community and voting rights advocate who helped integrate Greensboro’s two segregated YWCA

The site also honored Frye's wife, community advocate Shirley Frye. 

Gov. Roy Cooper, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughn and leaders of N.C. A&T attended the event Tuesday. 

“The way that they lived is just a great example for people to look to,” Vaughn said.

Both Fryes attended N.C. A&T and donated the largest archive ever given to the university. 

Students say they are still benefiting from the Fryes' legacy at the university and in the state.  

“I express my gratitude to him and his work, and I just want to carry out that legacy not only that he started, but he continued, and that I can continue for generations to come,” said freshman Jyanne Guide, part of the inaugural Power of Four Research Fellows in N.C. A&T's Center of Excellence for Social Justice Program. 

The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation funded the sculpture.