William Frederick Frick

Artist: Fred Hall; Oil on canvas

William Frederick Frick was born in Baltimore in 1817 to William and Mary Sloan Frick. He was educated at Baltimore City College and graduated from Harvard in 1835, at a very young age. He was admitted to the bar in 1839. He lectured on matters of science and public interest, but was not a physician like his brother, Charles Frick.

Frick took especial interest in the public school system of the day and as President of the School Board contributed a great deal to support educational progress. As a lawyer it has been said of him that he was one whom any colleague might envy and any adversary might fear. He later became a judge of the Superior Court of Baltimore.

He and another brother gave the money for the reading room at MedChi, including furnishing the room, adding bookplates to all of the books, and installing a bronze plaque. Without this gift, it is doubtful that Sir William Osler would have been so interested in revitalizing the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty’s Library. 

It was also from William Frederick Frick that MedChi indirectly received the portrait of Charles Sloan (his uncle) by Rembrandt Peale. The painting was owned by Charles Sloan’s sister Mary, who was married to Wm. Frick. She gave it to her son, Frank Frick, who then gave it to MedChi, along with the portrait of his brother, Charles Frick.