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Emeritus Henry Fritz dies

By Tom Vogel
November 18, 2005

Henry Fritz, professor emeritus of history at St. Olaf College, died Sunday, Nov. 13, at the age of 78. The funeral was held at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minn., on Nov. 17.

Fritz began teaching as an assistant professor at St. Olaf in 1958 and chaired the history department from 1969 to 1984. He also was the founder and director of the college's first American Minority Studies Program. Throughout his academic career, Fritz believed strongly in civil rights and minority issues, which often were the focus of his courses.

Since 1963, when he wrote The Movement for Indian Assimilation, 1860-1890, Fritz worked to become an authority on the subject of Native Americans and federal Indian policy. In addition to more than 60 published reviews of books on the topic, Fritz also contributed to several professional journals and delivered addresses at numerous conferences, including one in 1972 in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Archives' "Research in the History of Indian-White Relations" conference. His final article, "Allotment of Mineral and Timber Land on Reservations and the Public Domain," is scheduled to be published in an upcoming issue of The Historian.

Before retiring from St. Olaf, Fritz became a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1985 to 1989. During this time, he testified twice as an impartial expert witness in cases involving disputes over Indian rights to natural resources on reservations and in the public domain. In both cases, the government dropped the suits.

Fritz was born in Garrison, Kan., and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. He later went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He taught for two years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before coming to St. Olaf in 1958. Fritz also had served in the U.S. Army during the final months of World War II, and later in the Army Reserve.

Western culture always played a significant part in Fritz's life, from the classroom into his retirement. He was known by students for playing his guitar and singing cowboy ballads during his classes, and in later years horseback riding became one of his hobbies. In 1970 he purchased a farm outside of Northfield, where he kept cattle for several years.

Fritz is survived by his wife, Dolores; his three daughters, Marie, Malin '87 and Esther '76; and numerous grandchildren.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.