Robert E. Freed
Encyclopedia
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
leader in the state of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Biography
Robert E. Freed was born May 4, 1919, in Salt Lake City, UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
one of four sons of Lester D. and Jasmine Young Freed, along with David L., Daniel and Peter. He married JoAnn Robinson on March 25, 1950, in Salt Lake City, and they had four sons, Mark, John, Paul and Christopher.
A lifetime resident of Utah, Freed was an active participant in the civic and political affairs of the state. Graduating from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
with high honors, be was invited to membership in Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Phi
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education"...
. He majored in education with a degree in speech
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
and theater. He was a co-founder of the Salt Lake Playbox Theatre in 1938 with Robert Hyde Wilson.
Freed served in the in the infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
for five years during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and received a battlefield commission, Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster. He left the service in 1946 with the rank of first lieutenant. After the war, he entered into an agreement to lease the Lagoon Amusement Park
Lagoon Amusement Park
Lagoon is an amusement park in Farmington, Utah, United States located about seventeen miles north of Salt Lake City. It is privately owned...
, in Farmington, Utah
Farmington, Utah
Farmington is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,255 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Davis County...
and in 1946, became operational manager of it. Later, he became general manager with the position expanded to include the Terrace Ballroom and associated companies. It was under Freed's direction that Lagoon's major expansions were made. Together with his brothers, he rescued Lagoon from the brink of collapse and helped develop it into a first-class family amusement resort.
In 1963, Freed became president of the International Association of Amusement Parks (IAAP). He served as president of the National Ballroom Operators Association
National Ballroom Operators Association
National Ballroom Operators Association was an American organization reflecting its namesake that existed from the 1930s through the late 1960s...
in 1965, and received many service awards from these two organizations.
The award which gave Freed his greatest satisfaction was the one presented to him by the Utah Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, the "Human Rights" award, making him the first life-member of this organization in Utah. Freed was fiercely dedicated to the causes of equality; when the Freed family and their partner, Ranch Kimball, took over the lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
of Lagoon, the terms forbade blacks in the swimming pool and the ballroom in accordance with a Farmington town ordinance. By the late 1940s, Robert Freed had succeeded in fully opening Lagoon to blacks; and when his company acquired the Rainbow Gardens, later known as the Terrace Ballroom, the same policy was adopted. Freed once said, "One of the most satisfying experiences of my life was long ago, before civil rights. Legislation was passed, when Lagoon opened its doors to people of all races." In 1965, he was chairman of the Utah State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and had served as president of the United Nations of Utah. He bad also been treasurer of the Salt Lake County Republican Central committee for eight years.
Freed was a life member of the Actor's Fund of America and established the Lagoon Opera House as a part of his commitment to theater. In addition, Freed was a member of the Alumni Board of the University of Utah, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and the University Club.
He died on July 17, 1974 in Salt Lake City of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...