John Hope Franklin, RIP

I was a history major in college so I'm especially saddened when any great historian dies. But John Hope Franklin, who passed away this morning at the age of 94, was far more than just another great historian. The first African-American department chair at a white institution and the first African-American president of the American Historical Association, Franklin, the author of the seminal From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans, which has been republished nine times, was an integral part of the team of scholars who assisted Thurgood Marshall to win Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 case that outlawed the "separate but equal" doctrine in the nation's public schools.

Born in 1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, Dr. Franklin's endeavors, his witness, and his powerful chronicle of black America's hard-won progress toward equal rights and status continue to guide us towards achieving a free and just society. One of the most celebrated historians in the US, he was honored with several important awards--among them the Encyclopedia Britannica Gold Medal for the Dissemination of Knowledge, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Videos of Franklin talking about his life can be found at the National Visionary Leadership Project.

He talked about Barack Obama's nomination here.

And discussed the issue of reparations to African-Americans here.

A great way to honor Franklin's life is to take the time to read his still-timely work.

Comments (14)

1. "But John Hope Franklin, who passed away this morning at the age of 94, was far more than just another great historian."

   posted by Peter Rothberg on 03/25/2009 @ 4:43pm

   94! For a male, it doesn't get much better than that! What a great story! Thanks Peter!

   "Born in 1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma.."

   Yeah baby! Oklahoma! The same place all those Miss Americas come from!

   Not to mention all them there country singers, and idol stars n such! Yeah, we got it!

   Posted by Benchrest at 03/25/2009 @ 5:44pm

2. What a great man! He will be missed.

   Posted by neaguy at 03/25/2009 @ 5:46pm

3. Thank you NEAGUY,

   Posted by Peter Rothberg at 03/25/2009 @ 6:38pm

4. Peter, thank you for acknowledging Dr. Franklin.

   Posted by ACook at 03/25/2009 @ 9:19pm

5. Posted by Benchrest at 03/25/2009 @ 5:44pm

   Uh, Bench....RIO/comanche is from OK.

   Just saying...no place is perfect.

   Posted by Mask at 03/25/2009 @ 9:32pm

6. Posted by Mask at 03/25/2009 @ 9:32pm

   I know, but these moments are so rare, I may have went a little overboard.

   And now you have pee-pee'd on my parade.

   (dejected sigh)- back to reality.

   Posted by Benchrest at 03/25/2009 @ 9:41pm

7. I regret that this remarkable man had to die to get my attention. Thank you for the videos, Peter Rothberg.

   John Hope Franklin was clever to propose that reparations be paid through scholarships. There are scholarships of every kind, usually connected to one field of study or another. Sometimes, they are even connected to an ETHNIC field of study. There has never been any pretense to make their benefits race-neutral. So why not fund a new scholarship - let's call it the John Hope Franklin Scholarship - to promote the study of African-American history?

   We wouldn't CALL it a "reparation" in mixed company. Just another scholarship, that's all.

   We wouldn't even have to distribute this scholarship only to qualified Blacks. We could give it to a few Whites as well. Studying Black history, especially as a white person, is itself a form of reparation.

   Posted by JakobFabian at 03/26/2009 @ 06:47am

8. Posted by JakobFabian at 03/26/2009 @ 06:47am

   Uh-oh, you said the "R" word.

   The Right going to go nutsy now.

   Posted by Mask at 03/26/2009 @ 08:01am

9. Mr. Rothberg,

   I thank you for calling attention to a very important man.

   I only wish that you would consider the type of people that you are aligned with at this magazine.

   I have a great respect for the liberal tradition, which was often at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, as I do for the Christian current that ran through the struggle from Abolition through to today. The heroes of the struggle for black liberation are my heroes.

   I hold many liberal ideals and I respect your points of view regardless of whether they may be more liberal than my own, but I think you could do more good somewhere else.

   What I see from the posters here, especially the whites, is not liberalism. To utilize the hard-won struggles of an entire group of people as a vehicle for dehumanizing others simultaneously denies the humanity and individuality of the people being used as props.

   The readership here are not the ideological descendents of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. They are closer in character to the Ayers, Dohrns, and Soliahs. You deserve better company.

   Posted by gangpapist at 03/26/2009 @ 2:37pm

10. Posted by Benchrest at 03/25/2009 @ 5:44pm

    Uh, Bench....RIO/comanche is from OK.

    Just saying...no place is perfect.

    Posted by Mask at 03/25/2009 @ 9:32pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Just in case you missed my comment; More abject stupidity from MASK and other leftist concerning a GREAT NATIVE OKLAHOMAN! Why do you think so many of us rail against the racist idiocy consistently displayed by the leftist?

    We raise great teachers and statesmen here like John Hope Franklin, former Rep. J.C.Watts, and A.C. Hamlin the first black legislator in 1908 whose parents were slaves. Oh, the two politicians were republicans, so how did the left treat them????

    Posted by comancheamerican at 03/27/2009 @ 10:09am

11. Mask has amnesia when asked questions!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 03/27/2009 @ 3:47pm

12. silence from the demented Mask

    Posted by comancheamerican at 03/27/2009 @ 10:14pm

13. Mask must have died.

    Posted by comancheamerican at 03/27/2009 @ 10:32pm

14. I must have posed this in another thread by mistake ...

    I will miss him.

    Posted by V at 03/31/2009 @ 9:50pm