John Hope Franklin, 2007; undated
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Turner, Reginald
setName: label: See more items in
content: Guide to 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Oral History Collection
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAAHC.A2014.240, Series 15
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: John Hope Franklin was born January 2, 1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma. Franklin's father, Buck Colbert (B.C.) Franklin was a renowned attorney in the Greenwood District. During the race massacre, his family home and office were destroyed by fire and Franklin worked out of a tent. B.C. was also held in a detention center after the massacre ended. B.C. was instrumental in helping Greenwood to rebuild, bringing a court case against the city of Tulsa's rezoning laws. John Hope Franklin earned his master's and PhD. at Harvard University. Franklin was a historian, educator, and author. He taught at multiple universities and colleges including Howard University, Brooklyn College, Duke University, and internationally at Cambridge University. Franklin published over ten books on African American history from slavery through the twenty-first century. Franklin was dedicated to reshaping America's racial identity through history and the lasting effects of slavery. He served as a plaintiff in the court case, Alexander, et al., v. Oklahoma, et al. in 2003. He is well known for helping to write the legal brief used in the Supreme Court Case, Brown v. Board of Education. Franklin also participated in the march from Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Franklin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Franklin was the first African American president of the American Historical Association. He was the founding chairman of the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Franklin died March 25, 2009 in Durham, North Carolina.