John Hope Franklin, black history pioneer, dies

[babylonsister]

Duke historian John Hope Franklin dies
By Jane Stancill - Staff Writer
Published: Wed, Mar. 25, 2009 02:42PM


John Hope Franklin, the revered historian who chronicled the South and gave definition to the African-American experience, died this morning at the age of 94.

Franklin, the James B. Duke professor of history emeritus at Duke University, died at Duke Hospital, said Ddavid Jarmul, a spokesman for Duke University.

Franklin was considered one of the most influential historians of the 20th century. His book "From Slavery to Freedom," first published in 1947, was a seminal work on African-American history and has sold 3.5 million copies.


News & Observer File Photo - John Hope Franklin in 1998 when he was chosen as Tar Heel of the Year by The News & Observer.

His scholarship helped ensure that no American history book could be complete without the story of African-Americans, and that America had to confront the reality of slavery and segregation in its past.

He was at the forefront of some of the biggest turning points in the nation's civil rights history. In 1953, he helped NAACP lawyers with research for the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education school desegregation case. In 1965, he joined a group of historians who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery. Five decades after his masterpiece was published, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 to lead a national intiative on race.

"He writes history and he is history," said Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard professor and an authority on African and African-American history, in an interview earlier this year in which he referred to Franklin as his "intellectual godfather."

more...

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1457778.html

[malaise]

1. RIP dear brother

Wonderful man.

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. I remember seeing him on cspan

He came across as an old darling

[Captain Hilts]

6. That's - darlin'. nt

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. yes it is

darlin'

[Captain Hilts]

9. You take care, baby.

Cheers Professor Franklin!

[bluestateguy]

3. I'm glad that he got to live to see the first black president

nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. Yes, indeed. nt

[Adtrain3]

4. RIP

God bless you brother. RIP

[Captain Hilts]

5. RIP Professor Franklin.

Tell Mary McLeod Bethune I said 'Hi'.

[jobycom]

10. Some people you wish could live forever. A great American.

He was an historian who influenced current events, and became part of history. He worked with the legal team on Brown vs Board of Education, even influencing the legal arguments with his historical research, in addition to uncovering a part of our history that many in power just didn't care about. Some of it was negative, but much of was positive--the story of people living under oppression and forced into shadows. John Hope Franklin shone a light into the corners of our history.

Sad day. I'm glad he lived long enough to see Obama elected, or rather, to see a day that symbolized a progress he worked for his whole life. I'm sure there were many times when he had to doubt it would happen.

RIP, Professor. You have been quite a beacon.

[upi402]

11. When history is true and makes the record

we progress. He served us all well for a long time.
:patriot:

[earthboundmisfit]

12. He was in Tulsa last fall for dedication of John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park

Nice article about him in the Tulsa World Wednesday:

Oklahoma native, historian John Hope Franklin dies at 94

John Hope Franklin, whose Tulsa childhood helped shape an internationally acclaimed career as a scholar, writer and lecturer, died Wednesday morning in a Durham, N.C., hospital. He was 94. A Rentiesville native who grew up in Tulsa and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, Franklin achieved international fame in 1947 with the publication of his book “From Slavery to Freedom,” a seminal study of the black experience in America. The book has sold more than 3.5 million copies in eight editions, the most recent issued in 2000.
“He had a tremendous influence,” said Julius Pegues, chairman of the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation. “You could not come away from a conversation with John Hope Franklin and not be a better person for it.”

President Barack Obama said in a statement released by the White House that “because of the life John Hope Franklin lived, the public service he rendered, and the scholarship that was the mark of his distinguished career, we all have a richer understanding of who we are as Americans and our journey as a people.”

Franklin turned out a steady stream of books and articles until the last few years of his life. His final book, the autobiographical “Mirror to America,” was published in 2005.
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry called Franklin a “brilliant scholar” and “proud Oklahoman” in a statement issued Wednesday. Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said he was “a true statesman (who) will forever be remembered for his words and his works.”

One of Franklin’s last public appearances was in Tulsa for
the dedication of the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park last fall. The park, planned as a memorial to Tulsa’s 1921 Race Riot and to ultimately include programs intended to promote community reconciliation, is scheduled for completion in late summer.
“Colleagues have told us he was very pleased about the park and the reconciliation center,” said Lee Johns of the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Center, a nonprofit organization formed to support the park.


(more at link, and some great pics http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20090325_12_0_DURHAM767902&archive=yes)