III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 88 

Honoring the life of Dr. John Hope Franklin. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2009 

Mrs. HAGAN (for herself, Mr. BURR, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. SCHUMER) 

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life of Dr. John Hope Franklin. 

Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was born on January 2, 

1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, the grandson of a slave 

and the son of Buck Colbert Franklin, one of the first 

African-American lawyers in the Oklahoma Indian Territory, and Mollie Parker Franklin, a schoolteacher and 

community leader; 

Whereas in 1936, Dr. Franklin was appointed to the faculty 

of Fisk University as instructor of history and subsequently served as professor of history at St. Augustine’s 

College, North Carolina College, and Howard University; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin taught at the University of Chicago 

from 1964 to 1982, serving as professor of American history, chairperson of the department of history, John MatVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:39 Mar 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR88.ATS SR88

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•SRES 88 ATS 

thews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, and professor emeritus of history; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin was on faculty at Duke University 

from 1982 until his passing, serving as the James B. 

Duke Professor of History, professor of legal history at 

Duke University Law School, and the James B. Duke 

Professor of History Emeritus, Duke University; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin broke numerous racial barriers, serving as the first African-American department chair at a 

predominantly white institution as chairman of the department of history at Brooklyn College from 1956 to 

1964, as the first African-American professor to hold an 

endowed chair at Duke University, and as the first African-American president of the American Historical Association; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin authored ‘‘From Slavery to Freedom: 

A History of Negro Americans’’ in 1947, widely considered the preeminent history of the African-American experience in the United States, as well as numerous other 

notable books including his influential autobiography 

‘‘Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope 

Franklin’’; 

Whereas the research of Dr. Franklin contributed to the success of Thurgood Marshall and the legal victory of the 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People (NAACP) in the landmark Supreme Court case, 

Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 483), which 

ended the ‘‘separate but equal’’ doctrine in public schools 

in the United States; 

Whereas in 1996, Dr. Franklin was named ‘‘Historian of the 

Century’’ by Duke University, North Carolina State UniVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:39 Mar 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR88.ATS SR88

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versity, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin received the Presidential Medal of 

Freedom in 1995, and was appointed chairman of the advisory board of President William J. Clinton’s Initiative 

on Race in 1997; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin served as the head of the 3 major historical associations in the United States: the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin was inducted into the North Carolina 

Literary Hall of Fame in 1998; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin received the Benjamin Franklin Medal 

for Distinguished Public Service from the American Philosophical Society in 2007, and a Gold Medal for distinguished achievement in history from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2002; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin inspired the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies at 

Duke University, a consortium of academic programs 

that encourages creative scholarship, the exchange of 

ideas, and a variety of perspectives and methodologies to 

revitalize notions of how knowledge is gained and shared; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin was a scholar who helped create the 

field of African-American history and literature; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin described historians as ‘‘the conscience 

of the nation, if honesty and consistency are factors that 

nurture the conscience’’, and his contributions to the 

study of American history fundamentally challenged and 

changed the manner in which the Nation collectively interprets its past and understands its present; 


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•SRES 88 ATS 

Whereas generations of young historians have been inspired 

and personally influenced by Dr. Franklin’s keen intellect, graceful humility, and humor in the classroom, and 

will ensure the endurance of his towering legacy; 

Whereas Dr. Franklin passed away on March 25, 2009 in 

Durham, North Carolina; and 

Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin will be deeply missed but 

leaves an enduring legacy of public service, scholarship, 

and perseverance that inspires all Americans: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) celebrates the life and accomplishments of 

3 John Hope Franklin; and 

4 (2) honors the contributions that John Hope 

5 Franklin made to United States society. 

Æ 


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