Anyone familiar with Dr. Franklin knows that he had quite the distinguished career. He is a literal legend in North Carolina - read his bio (below) and you'll see why. If there was anyone that would be easily recognizable in the whole painting, it is he. In other words, don't screw this one up!
Dr. John Hope Franklin (select for larger view)
John Hope Franklin was the
James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, and for seven years was Professor
of Legal History in the Law School at Duke University. He was a native of
Oklahoma and a graduate of Fisk
University. He received the A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Harvard University. He has taught at a
number of institutions, including Fisk University, St. Augustine's College, North Carolina Central University, and Howard University. In 1956 he went to Brooklyn College as Chairman of the
Department of History; and in 1964, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago, serving as Chairman
of the Department of History from 1967 to 1970. At Chicago, he was the John
Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor from 1969 to 1982, when he
became Professor Emeritus.
Professor Franklin's
numerous publications include The Emancipation Proclamation, The Militant
South, The Free Negro in North Carolina, Reconstruction After the Civil War,
and A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Ante-bellum North. Perhaps his best
known book is From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans, now in
its seventh edition. His Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities for 1976 was
published in 1985 and received the Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize for that
year. In 1990, a collection of essays covering a teaching and writing career of
fifty years, was published under the title, Race and History: Selected Essays,
1938-1988. In 1993, he published The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-first
Century. Professor Franklin's most recent book, My Life and an Era: The
Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin, is an autobiography of his father that
he edited with his son, John Whittington Franklin. His research at the time of
his death dealt with "Dissidents on the Plantation: Runaway Slaves."
Professor Franklin was active in numerous professional and education organizations. For many years he served on the editorial board of the Journal of Negro History. He also served as President of the following organizations: The American Studies Association (1967), the Southern Historical Association (1970), the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa (1973-76), the Organization of American Historians (1975), and the American Historical Association (1979). He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Fisk University, the Chicago Public Library, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association.
Professor Franklin served
on many national commissions and delegations, including the National Council on
the Humanities, from which he resigned in 1979, when the President appointed
him to the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. He also served on the
President's Advisory Commission on Ambassadorial Appointments. In September and
October of 1980, he was a United States delegate to the 21st General Conference
of UNESCO. Among many other foreign assignments, Dr. Franklin served as Pitt
Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University,
Consultant on American Education in the Soviet Union, Fulbright Professor in
Australia, and Lecturer in American History in the People' Republic of China.
Professor Franklin was the
recipient of many honors. In 1978, Who's Who in America selected Dr. Franklin
as one of eight Americans who has made significant contributions to society. In
the same year, he was elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He also received
the Jefferson Medal for 1984, awarded by the Council for the Advancement and
Support of Education. In 1989, he was the first recipient of the Cleanth Brooks
Medal of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and in 1990 received the
Encyclopedia Britannica Gold Medal for the Dissemination of Knowledge. In 1993,
Dr. Franklin received the Charles Frankel Prize for contributions to the humanities,
and in 1994, the Cosmos Club Award and the Trumpet Award from Turner
Broadcasting Corporation. In 1995, he received the first W.E.B. DuBois Award
from the Fisk University Alumni Association, the Organization of American
Historians' Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Alpha Phi Alpha Award of
Merit, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In
1996, Professor Franklin was elected to the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Frame
and in 1997 he received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. In
addition to his many awards, Dr. Franklin has received honorary degrees from
more than one hundred colleges and universities.
Professor Franklin has
been extensively written about in various articles and books. Most recently he
was the subject of the film First Person
Singular: John Hope Franklin. Produced by Lives and Legacies Films,
the documentary was featured on PBS
in June 1997.
Professor Franklin died of
congestive heart failure at Duke Hospital on the morning of March 25th, 2009.
He is survived by his son, John Whittington Franklin, daughter-in-law Karen
Roberts Franklin, sister-in-law Bertha W. Gibbs, cousin Grant Franklin Sr., a
host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, other family members,
many generations of students and friends. For more information on John Hope
Franklin, please visit his memorial web site.
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