DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN
Know the History; Know the Historian
On March 25, 2009, America lost a trailblazing historian and scholar in the person of Dr. John Hope Franklin. At the time of his death, Dr. Franklin, a noted academician, was the John B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at ______________________ University.
Born in 1915, Dr. Franklin spent his early years in the all-black town of _________________________, Oklahoma. His family moved to Tulsa in 1925, just a few years after the devastating 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. They joined John Hope’s father, _______________________________________, a Tulsa lawyer who assisted many Riot victims with their legal claims.
John Hope Franklin graduated valedictorian of his 1931 Tulsa Booker T. Washington High School class. He and Tulsa Central High School valedictorian, ____________________________, were honored at Tulsa’s posh Mayo Hotel. Both men went on to become nationally renowned scholars and historians.
John Hope Franklin earned his undergraduate degree at historically-black _______________ University, and his Ph.D. in History from __________________ University. He received more than 100 honorary degrees during his lifetime.
Dr. Franklin’s 1947 book, _________________________________, became the seminal resource on African-American history for generations of Americans. It has sold 3.5 million copies.
A lifelong advocate of positive race relations, Dr. Franklin marched with Nobel Laureate __________________ from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement. In the late 1990s, he chaired President ___________________________’s One America in the 21st Century: Forging a New Future—The President’s Initiative on Race.
In his final book, an autobiography entitled ______________________________, Dr. Franklin recounted his life story with remarkable equanimity—without rancor or bitterness. Befitting his middle name, hope sprang eternal. He will be sorely missed.
