William G. Newby Memorial Building
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Herman Frerichs, a cotton exporter from Bremen, Germany, built this house in 1910-1911. He and his family were on vacation in Germany at the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and were not allowed to return to the United States. The U.S. government seized the house under the Alien Property Act and held it until the end of the war. Frerichs sold the property to Mrs. William G. Newby in 1923. She gave it to the Fort Worth Woman's Club in memory of her husband. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German cotton exporter Herman Frerichs built this grand house in 1910â1911, only to be stranded in Germany when World War I erupted in 1914. Branding him an enemy alien, the U.S. government seized the property under the Trading with the Enemy (Alien Property) Act and held it until the war's end. Frerichs sold it in 1923 to Mrs. William G. Newby, who gave it to the Fort Worth Woman's Club in her husband's memory.
Why it matters
The house is a rare local monument to the wartime suspicion that fell on German-Americans and to the civic clubs through which women shaped early-twentieth-century public life.
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Related people
- ¡ Herman Frerichs
- ¡ William G. Newby
Related events
- ¡ World War I
- ¡ Alien Property Act seizure
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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