H. Res. 320 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
April 21, 2009. 
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 
Black lawyers in the Oklahoma Indian territory, and 
Mollie Parker Franklin, a schoolteacher and community 
leader; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin, a noted historian, made 
significant academic and civic contributions that helped 
integrate the African-American narrative into American 
history; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was a graduate of Fisk 
University and a recipient of a Ph.D. degree in history 
from Harvard University; 
Whereas in 1936, Dr. John Hope 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 Central University, 
and Howard University; 
Whereas in 1956, Dr. John Hope Franklin became the 
Chairman of the Department of History at Brooklyn Col-
lege, the first African-American to lead a department at 
a predominately White institution and later became the
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first African-American professor to hold an endowed 
chair at Duke University; 
Whereas in 1964, Dr. John Hope Franklin joined the faculty 
of the University of Chicago, serving as Professor of 
American History, Chairman of the Department of His-
tory from 1967 to 1970, and the John Matthews Manly 
Distinguished Service Professor from 1969 to 1982 when 
he became Professor Emeritus of History; 
Whereas in 1982, Dr. John Hope Franklin joined the faculty 
at Duke University and served until his passing, holding 
such positions as the James B. Duke Professor of His-
tory, Professor of Legal History at Duke University Law 
School, the James B. Duke Professor of History Emer-
itus, Duke University; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin’s numerous publications 
include ‘‘From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro 
Americans’’, widely considered the preeminent history of 
the African-American experience in the United States, 
‘‘The 
Emancipation 
Proclamation’’, 
‘‘The 
Militant 
South’’, ‘‘The Free Negro in North Carolina’’, ‘‘Recon-
struction After the Civil War’’, ‘‘A Southern Odyssey: 
Travelers in the Ante-bellum North’’, and his influential 
autobiography ‘‘Mirror to America: The Autobiography of 
John Hope Franklin’’; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin’s research contributed to 
the success of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP’s legal 
victory in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case, 
Brown v. Board of Education, which ended the ‘‘separate 
but equal’’ doctrine in America’s public schools; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was active in numerous 
professional and educational organizations including serv-
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ing as President of The Organization of American Histo-
rians, the American Studies Association, the Southern 
Historical Association, the United Chapters of Phi Beta 
Kappa, and the first African-American to serve as Presi-
dent of the American Historical Association; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin served on many national 
commissions and delegations, including the National 
Council on the Humanities, Advisory Commission on 
Public Diplomacy, and as chair of President Clinton’s 
Race Initiative Advisory Board in 1997; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was the recipient of nu-
merous awards and accolades, including the Presidential 
Medal of Freedom in 1995, the inaugural W.E.B. 
DuBois Award from Fisk University Alumni Association, 
the Organization of American Historians’ Award for Out-
standing Achievement, the Alpha Phi Alpha Award of 
Merit, the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, and Lifetime 
Achievement Awards from the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society in 
2007; 
Whereas in 1996, Dr. John Hope Franklin was named ‘‘His-
torian of the Century’’ by Duke University, North Caro-
lina State University, North Carolina Central University, 
and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; 
Whereas in 1998, Dr. John Hope Franklin was inducted into 
the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin inspired the John Hope 
Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary & International 
Studies at Duke University, a consortium of academic 
programs that encourage creative scholarship, the ex-
change of ideas, and a variety of perspectives and meth-
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odologies to revitalize notions of how knowledge is gain 
and shared; 
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 in-
terprets its past and understands its present; 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was a true scholar and sol-
dier for justice whose chronicling of American history af-
firmed the dignity of Black people while giving us all a 
richer understanding of who we are as Americans and 
our journey as a people; 
Whereas generations of young historians have been inspired 
and personally influenced by Dr. Franklin’s keen intel-
lect, graceful humility, and humor in the classroom, and 
will ensure the endurance of his towering legacy; and 
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin passed away on March 25, 
2009, in Durham, North Carolina, and will be deeply 
missed: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the life and achievements of Dr. John 
Hope Franklin; and
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(2) encourages the Nation to recognize his academic 
contributions, scholarship, and service to the American 
society and history. 
Attest: 
Clerk.