Cornell
After the University of Rochester, she went on to Cornell to get her Master’s and PhD in History. There isn’t much about her time at Cornell in the archives, other than a few copies of her papers. Among the items we do have is her master’s thesis, which was titled “Calhoun and the Election of 1844.” Her paper focuses on American political history, yet her later work centers on East Asia and local history. This shift suggests that her intellectual interests evolved over time, which may have been shaped by travel and teaching experiences.
Regardless of the subject she chose, however, Frieda earned her Master’s, placing her among the minority of women who held one (women held one-third of all appointed master’s degrees, with men holding the other two-thirds at the time). Her degree was a significant academic achievement. The analytical skills she developed there would go on to serve her throughout her career, allowing her to approach new historical topics with depth, structure, and care.