2010 Sanford Hunt Frye Dinner
The Sanford Hunt Frye Dinner will be held 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 31 at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in Fayetteville.
Now in its fifth year, is one of the most popular NCDP events, with more than 500 people attending each year to listen to tributes to three great Democratic statesmen — Govs. Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, and Chief Justice Henry Frye — who have inspired generations of Democrats to use their lives to serve others in their communities
Tickets to the Dinner are $35. Click here to purchase tickets online or contact Sallie Leslie at (919) 821-2777 ext. 205 or sleslie@ncdp.org. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.
Gov. Terry Sanford
A member of the Democratic Party, James Terry Sanford was the 65th Governor of North Carolina (1961–1965), a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator (1986–1993). Sanford was a strong proponent of education and introduced a number of reforms and new programs in North Carolina's schools and institutions of higher education as the state's governor, increasing funding for education and establishing the North Carolina Fund. From 1969–1985, Sanford was President of Duke University.
Following his return to civilian life after World War II, Sanford attended and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law and began a legal career in the late 1940s, soon becoming involved in politics. A lifelong Democrat, he was noted for his progressive leadership in civil rights and education.
Gov. Jim Hunt
Nationally recognized for leading North Carolina through two decades of dramatic economic change and educational reform, Governor Hunt spearheaded the transformation of its economy from traditional industry to knowledge-driven industries – biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and IT.
Among his many successes in education, his early childhood education program, Smart Start, has been a model for the nation and has received the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award from the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. In the last decade of his governorship the schools of North Carolina increased NAEP scores more than any other state in America. In the 1980’s, Governor Hunt and the Carnegie Corporation of New York created the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards which he chaired for ten years.
Under Governor Hunt’s leadership, North Carolina consistently ranked at the top of the nation in economic growth, job creation and capital investment, and was nationally recognized for its business climate. Governor Hunt is Chairman of the Board of Directors of two institutes which he founded in the University of North Carolina – the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy in Chapel Hill and the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University.
Chief Justice Henry Frye
Born in Richmond County in 1932, Frye grew up in the farming community of Ellerbe. He earned his undergraduate degree at North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro and his law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as a munitions officer stationed in Japan and Korea and later as a Judge Advocate General Area Representative with the Air Force Reserve.
Frye became in 1968 the first African-American elected to the state legislature in the 20th century. Serving in the House from 1969 to 1980 and in the Senate from 1981 to 1982, Frye introduced legislation banning literacy tests as a requirement for voter registration.
He continued his efforts to expand opportunities for African-Americans in business and public service by co-founding the Greensboro National Bank, the Legislative Black Caucus, and the Caucus’ scholarship foundation.
Frye was appointed as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court by Gov. Hunt in 1983, becoming the first African-American to serve on the court. In 1999 Justice Frye became the first African-American to hold the highest post in the Court, serving as its Chief Justice until 2001. He is currently an attorney at Brooks Pierce Law Firm in Greensboro.
