[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 320 Engrossed in House (EH)]
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 College, the first African-American to lead a
department at a predominately White institution and later became the
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 History 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 History, Professor of Legal History at Duke University
Law School, the James B. Duke Professor of History Emeritus, 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'', ``Reconstruction 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 serving as President of The
Organization of American Historians, the American Studies Association,
the Southern Historical Association, the United Chapters of Phi Beta
Kappa, and the first African-American to serve as President 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 numerous 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 Outstanding
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 ``Historian of the Century''
by Duke University, North Carolina 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
exchange of ideas, and a variety of perspectives and methodologies 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
interprets its past and understands its present;
Whereas Dr. John Hope Franklin was a true scholar and soldier for justice whose
chronicling of American history affirmed 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 intellect, 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
(2) encourages the Nation to recognize his academic contributions,
scholarship, and service to the American society and history.
Attest:
Clerk.