Herman's Honorary Degree
Lowry and Garber Drushal spoke of Herman’s fondness for helping children and his invaluable contributions to the community. Traditionally only faculty and trustees were part of the vote, but students and faculty wanted to honor Herman as well.
The article describes President Lowry’s remarks during a university chapel service for Herman. Lowry reflected on his personal relationship with Herman and gave him a plaque to celebrate his 80th birthday.
The Daily Record interviewed Herman and he was honored but had wanted to keep it secret. The store and the college had a long standing relationship with many of the students and their parents shopping at Freedlander’s.
Although Herman Freedlander sacrificed his formal education to run the family business, his choice allowed his brothers and sisters to lead successful careers in medicine, academia, and industry. Samuel became the head of surgery at Cleveland City Hospital, and Etta became a well-respected sociologist.1 Abraham (A.L.) Freedlander served as President of the Dayton Rubber Company and received many important patents for his rubber inventions, which helped the war effort in World War II.2 Herman eventually joined the ranks of his siblings when he received an honorary degree from the College of Wooster on June 8, 1964. Friends, professors, and trustees voted to award him the degree in honor of Herman’s contributions to the college and the community.3 President Howard Lowry’s speech summed up Herman’s beloved place in Wooster, as he exclaimed that “...it is almost impossible this morning to cite you and your career, for the voices of more than sixty years are determined to break in and make a chorus of your praise”.4 As a businessman in a small town, Herman prospered in part because of his close ties to the college and President Lowry, as well as his philanthropic efforts in the town. Although “Mr. Wooster”, as Herman was affectionately known in the town, never got to graduate from high school, he left the the College of Wooster campus that day with a degree.
1 President Howard Lowry, “Citations in Connection with Conferring of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities upon Herman Freedlander” (speech, College of Wooster, June 8, 1964).
2 Ann Freedlander Hunt, Gone but not Forgotten: A Freedlander Legacy (Minneapolis, MN: Two Harbors Press, 2012), 10.
3 Bee Collins, “Merchant Happy About Degree; Wants No Fuss,” The Daily Record, May 15, 1964.
4 President Howard Lowry, “Citations in Connection with Conferring of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities upon Herman Freedlander” (speech, College of Wooster, June 8, 1964).