Dr. John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin was born on January 2, 1915. He was an American Afrikan historian and past president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. 

Franklin is best known for his work “From Slavery to Freedom”, first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Author, “UP FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM” Dr. John Hope Franklin

A native of Oklahoma and a graduate of Fisk University, he received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Harvard University. Franklin met and courted Aurelia Whittington at Fisk. They married on June 11, 1940 at her parents’ home in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Their only child, John Whittington Franklin, was born August 24, 1952. Aurelia was a librarian. Their marriage lasted 59 years, until January 27, 1999, when she succumbed to a long illness.

He has taught at a number of institutions, including Fisk University, St. Augustine’s College, North Carolina Central University, and Howard University. Professor Franklin’s has published numerous books and articles. His best-known book is From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans, now in its seventh edition.

In 1993, he published “The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-first Century”. More than three million copies have been sold. Professor Franklin wrote a biography of his father which he edited with his son, John Whittington Franklin.

“My challenge,” Franklin said, “was to weave into the fabric of American history enough of the presence of blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly.”

In 1995, he received the first W.E.B. Du Bois Award from the Fisk University Alumni Association and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Dr. Franklin has received honorary degrees from more than 100 colleges and universities. Dr. Franklin has also been the recipient of many other honors.

In 2005, at the age of 90, Franklin published and lectured on his new autobiography, “Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin”. In 2006, he received the John W. Kluge Prize and as the recipient lectured on the successes and failures of race relations in America in “Where do We Go from Here?”

Professor Franklin served as chair of the advisory board for One America: The President’s Initiative on Race. He is a past president of the American Historical Association and was Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University.

In 2008, Franklin endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama. Franklin died at Duke University Medical Center on the morning of March 25, 2009.

References: The Wikipedia and “The biographical dictionary of Black Americans”
by Rachel Krantz and Elizabeth A.Ryan