Dr. John Hope Franklin

Until his death in March 2009, Dr. John Hope Franklin was the dean of African-American historians and the author of many books, including the landmark "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans." An activist as well as scholar, he worked with Thurgood Marshall to strike down segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case and marched with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. His writing helped overturn earlier histories which rationalized Jim Crow, slavery, and white supremacy. He became the first African-American the chair a history department at Brooklyn College, and the first African-American president of the American Historical Association. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom to Franklin and appointed him to the Advisory Board of the President's Initiative on Race. His writing was a harbinger and an agent of change in the continuing struggle for equality in the United States. Hide full description

Until his death in March 2009, Dr. John Hope Franklin was the dean of African-American historians and the author of many books, including the landmark "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans." An activist as well as scholar, he worked with Thurgood Marshall to strike down segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case and marched with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. His writing helped overturn earlier histories which rationalized Jim Crow, slavery, and white supremacy. He became the first African-American the chair a history department at Brooklyn College, and the first African-American president of the American Historical Association. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom to Franklin and appointed him to the... Show full description