Editing Henry Fonda (section)

==Ancestry and early life==
[[File:Jane Fonda & Henry Fonda & Peter Fonda, 1950s.jpg|right|thumb|[[Jane Fonda]], Henry Fonda, and [[Peter Fonda]] in July 1955]]
Born in [[Grand Island, Nebraska]], on May 16, 1905, Henry Jaynes Fonda was the son of printer William Brace Fonda, and his wife, Herberta (Jaynes). The family moved to [[Omaha, Nebraska]], in 1906.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fischbach |first=Bob |date=June 8, 2013 |title=The homes where Omaha's stars got their starts |work=[[Omaha World-Herald]] |url=http://www.omaha.com/living/the-homes-where-omaha-s-stars-got-their-starts/article_123c4167-76f9-59ed-a76e-acd0a55ca4d0.html |access-date=July 1, 2017}}</ref>

Fonda's patriline originates with an ancestor from [[Genoa]], Italy, who migrated to the [[Netherlands]] in the 15th century.{{sfn| Bosworth | 2011| page = 18}} In 1642, a branch of the Fonda family immigrated to the Dutch colony of [[New Netherland]] on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] of North America.{{sfn| Bosworth | 2011| page = 18}}<ref name="FONDADOTORG">{{Cite web |last=A. Mark Fonda |title=Fonda Genealogy |url=http://www.fonda.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809104415/http://www.fonda.org/ |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |access-date=August 27, 2015 |website=fonda.org}}</ref> They were among the first Dutch population to settle in what is now upstate New York, establishing the town of [[Fonda, New York]].{{sfn| Bosworth | 2011| page = 18}} By 1888, many of their descendants had relocated to Nebraska.{{sfn| Bosworth | 2011| page = 18}}

Fonda was brought up as a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]].{{Sfn|McKinney|2012|p=30-31}} The family was close and highly supportive, especially in health matters, as they avoided doctors due to their religion.{{sfn|Fonda|2005|page=21}} Despite having a religious background, he later became an agnostic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kevin Sweeney |title=Henry Fonda: A Bio-Bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1992 |isbn=9780313265716 |page=70 |quote=Fonda reveals his up-to-the-minute thoughts on religion (he's an agnostic),...}}</ref> Fonda was a bashful, short boy who tended to avoid girls, except his sisters, and was a good skater, swimmer, and runner. He worked part-time in his father's print plant and imagined a possible career as a journalist. Later, he worked after school for the phone company. He also enjoyed drawing. Fonda was active in the [[Boy Scouts of America]]; [[Howard Teichmann]]'s biography of Fonda, as well as his son Peter Fonda, stated that he reached the rank of [[Eagle Scout]];{{sfn|Fonda|1981|page=29}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pearlman |first1=Cindy |title=The Screen image of his father |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1997/06/16/the-screen-image-of-his-father/ |website=Tampa Bay Times |publisher=Tampa Bay Times |access-date=17 May 2025}}</ref> However, other sources contradict that claim, some stating that he was instead a ScoutMaster.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Biography |work=meredy.com |url=http://www.meredy.com/henryfonda/biography.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219014654/http://meredy.com/henryfonda/biography.html |archive-date=December 19, 2007}}</ref> When he was 14, he and his father witnessed the brutal [[Omaha race riot of 1919|lynching]] of Will Brown from a nearby building during the [[Omaha race riot of 1919]].{{sfn|Fonda|2005|page=25}} This enraged the young Fonda and he kept a keen awareness of prejudice for the rest of his life.<ref name="Nebraska">{{Cite web |title=Race Riots of 1919 |url=http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/stories/0701_0134.html |access-date=January 28, 2007 |website=Nebraska Studies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207115552/http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/stories/0701_0134.html |archive-date=February 7, 2007 }}</ref> Remarking on the incident in a 1975 BBC interview, he said: "It was the most horrendous sight I'd ever seen. My hands were wet, there were tears in my eyes. All I could think of was that young black man dangling at the end of a rope."<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 9, 2021 |title=How a white mob lynched a Black man, destroyed a city – and got away with it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/09/omaha-riot-how-white-mobs-360-video |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref> By his senior year in high school, Fonda had grown to more than {{convert|6|ft|cm}} tall, but remained shy. He attended the [[University of Minnesota]], where he majored in journalism,<ref name="YahooMovies.com ">{{Cite web |date=January 11, 2007 |title=Henry Fonda |url=http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800010509&cf=biog&intl=us |website=YahooMovies.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628201259/http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800010509&cf=biog&intl=us |archive-date=June 28, 2011 }}</ref> but did not graduate. While at Minnesota he was a member of Chi Delta Xi, a local fraternity, which later became [[Chi Phi]]'s Gamma Delta chapter on that campus.<ref name="Gopher 1925">{{Cite book |url=https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:31121/p16022coll339:30956?child_index=467 |title=Minnesota Gopher yearbook |date=1925 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801212052/https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:31121/p16022coll339:30956?child_index=467 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |quote=lists Fonda among the fraternity's members on p. 450}}</ref><ref name="Gopher 1926">{{Cite book |url=https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:35623/p16022coll339:35474?child_index=455 |title=Minnesota Gopher yearbook |date=1926 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801172831/https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll339:35623/p16022coll339:35474?child_index=455 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |quote=He is pictured in the 1926 yearbook p.438, but is no longer listed on the group's roster. (Photography and editing occurred sometimes a year ahead of the ''class name'' of the book, so his participation likely spanned 1924-25.)}}</ref> He took a job with the [[Equifax|Retail Credit Company.]]