Remembering a Needham Legacy During Race Amity Day
June 9, 2025
• Locals attended the annual Race Amity Day and joined in celebrating a memorial rededication several years in the making.
Välkommen till Vänskapsdagen! Bienvenue à la journée de l’amitié! ချစ်ကြည်ရေးနေ့မှကြိုဆိုပါတယ်။ Wamkelekile kuSuku loBuhlobo! !به روز دوستی خوش آمدید
Through more than a dozen languages, community members on Sunday welcomed each other to Race Amity Day, a celebration of friendships between people of different cultures and races with a focus on collaboration and social justice.
Typically held on Amity Path, the event moved to Avery Field to coincide with the rededication of a memorial plaque honoring Richard Fry, a former Needham resident who served as a “friend and benefactor of Needham youth.”
His life and legacy epitomized the spirit of Race Amity Day, organizer Kim Marie Nicols of the Needham Diversity Initiative said.
“Here’s a man of a very different culture than most Needhamites who became a part of the community,” Nicols said in an interview, “and this is what race amity is all about.”
Fry, the son of a formerly enslaved man, hitchhiked to Needham around 1900 and dedicated the following five decades to serving his newfound community. At his death, he bequeathed his life savings to the town — amounting to more than $25,000 with inflation — which were used to renovate Avery Field and create Needham’s first Little League baseball field there.
On Sunday, those gathered reflected on that contribution and its impact on children and families.
“It’s a neighborhood gem brought to you, in part, by the generosity of a man who created a successful new life for himself a long way from home,” said Gloria Greis, executive director of the Needham History Center and Museum.
The rededication process began several years ago when, during plantings at the field, Green Needham discovered the empty space on the stone where a plaque once stood. After some sleuthing by the history center, they discovered a black-and-white photo of Fry’s memorial, clearly absent for some time.
Learning of Fry’s story, Michael Greis of Green Needham realized its significance. “He became a pillar of the community in a lot of ways,” he said. They raised money to replace the plaque in two weeks.
“What I’d like this stone to remind people of, when you see it, is how Needham welcomes people into its community and makes them Needhamites, even if they weren’t born here, and how we carry that tradition on,” Michael Greis said. “Everyone is welcome in this community, and that’s what this, I think, symbolizes.”
Fry belonged to Needham’s Village Club, as well as the Black Masonic Lodge in Boston, building a network and “new family” by doing so, Gloria Greis said. He lived with the Alden family in Needham and worked a variety of jobs for William Carter, including as a mill worker, handyman and chauffeur. It’s unclear how long the plaque had been missing.
Though Needham isn’t very racially diverse — and especially was not so during Fry’s lifetime — the memorial stone recognizes an important person that shaped Needham and its future, Gloria Greis said. Fry’s life showcases how “our town history is richer than we sometimes think it is,” she added.
“It’s very hard to find Black stories, or almost anybody else’s stories, in Needham history, because there weren’t large populations, but also because that’s not the stuff that gets written down,” Gloria Greis said. “This gives us a chance to show that there were a lot of people involved in making the town, not just the people we always record, not just the people we know about, some of the people we don’t know about.”
Race Amity Day began in Massachusetts in 2017 and is celebrated on the second Sunday in June. A state proclamation on display Sunday reads that “Friendship, collegiality, civility, respect, and kindness are commonly shared ideals of the collective citizenry of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
Attendees created buttons, completed coloring activities and mingled with their neighbors as drummer Lumanyano Mzi and accompanying musicians played a selection of jazzy songs. NDI sponsored the event along with the Needham Human Rights Committee, Needham History Center and Museum and Green Needham.
Select Board Chair Heidi Frail spoke to the importance of Race Amity Day.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get together in the community and be grateful for what we have,” Frail said, “and be welcoming to all of the richness and diversity that Needham can provide.”
The celebration aims to break down barriers and allow neighbors to learn more about each other and their backgrounds, Nicols said.
“It leads to conversations, and that leads to friendships, just like meeting a random guy on the road and inviting him to come to your community,” Nicols said, referring to Fry. “Race Amity Day helps people realize what a diverse community they live in.”
Michael Greis is a member of the Needham Community Television Development Corporation, which oversees Needham Local and The Needham Channel. He did not participate in the reporting or editing of this story.
Marc Mandel, executive director of The Needham Channel, is a board member of the Needham History Center and Museum. He also did not participate in the reporting or editing of this story.
