RALEIGH – John Hope Franklin taught America much about race relations and herself. He did much of his research confirming the condition of both in the State Archives of North Carolina. Before giving the world the seminal book on the subject, “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of American Negroes,” published in 1947, Franklin examined the difficult issue of race in his adopted home state, and published “The Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860,” in 1943. He published several examinations of race in North Carolina.
Franklin endured racial discrimination even while researching “Free Negro.” In 1939, he could not sit in the Archives Search Room nor have pages bring research materials to him, as they did for other researchers. Archives Director Christopher Crittenden gave Franklin his own key to the manuscript stacks and a designated work space to examine them. In a 1995 speech celebrating the 75th anniversary of the State Archives, Franklin said he “entered the stacks whenever I pleased, browsed as long as I pleased, and emerged with a wagon full of all sorts of goodies…” He explained that the other researchers grew jealous of his access and he had to relinquish his key, but he already had learned more about the manuscripts in the North Carolina State Archives than any other researcher at the time. He had a way of mastering situations that sought to master him throughout his well-lived life.
A North Carolina sweetheart, Aurelia Whittington, who he later married, led Franklin to visit and to return to the Tar Heel state. He chose to make it his home, and wrote an introduction to the booklet, “The Rich Heritage of African Americans in North Carolina,” observing “Regardless of their race, religion, station in life, or other distinctive features, North Carolinians have a pride in being part of the Old North State that is rarely matched by those pledging their loyalty to other places.”
“We all stand on the shoulders of John Hope Franklin,” said Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. “His scholarship influenced three generations of historians. Not only did he teach a nation that African American history is American history, but he also taught all of us what it means to be a person of honor and integrity.”
Franklin was awarded an A.B. degree from Fisk University in Tennessee in 1935, and a M.A. and a doctorate from Harvard University in 1936 and 1941, respectively. He taught at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn College and the University of Chicago. In North Carolina he taught at St.
Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina College (now N.C. Central University), and retired as professor emeritus at Duke University, both in Durham.
In addition to researching for publication, Franklin helped NAACP lawyers with research to advance the Brown v Kansas case before the Supreme Court, prompting the 1954 ruling that ended segregation in public schools. He marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. He led the “One America” initiative of President Bill Clinton on race relations in America in 1997. He endorsed and voted for President Barack Obama in 2008.
Throughout his trials and challenges, Franklin always pursued the promise of equality for all Americans. “I want to be out there on the firing line, helping, directing or doing something to try to make this a better world, a better place to live,” Franklin told The Associated Press in 2005.
In doing so Franklin not only studied and taught history, he made history. He was awarded the North Carolina Award in 1993 for his scholarly writings and pioneering research on the conditions of African Americans and the American South. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for a lifetime of contributions to the state. His other North Carolina specific titles are the pamphlet “Negro Episcopalians in Ante-bellum North Carolina” and the published speech, “North Carolina Conundrum.” The State Library of North Carolina holds 28 titles by or about John Hope Franklin, which are available to state employees or from local libraries to the public.
The State Archives and State Library are within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Now podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources, all available at www.ncculture.com.