[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4553-H4554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Dr. John 
Hope Franklin.
  Dr. John Hope Franklin grew up in segregated Oklahoma. He was only 7 
years old when his new family home was burned to the ground in the 
Tulsa race riots of 1921.
  As a child, he was evicted from white-only train cars. He was forced 
to attend segregated schools. And on one occasion he was threatened 
with lynching. John Hope Franklin tasted the bitter fruits of 
segregation and racial discrimination, and he didn't like it. But he 
did not give up, he did not give in, he did not give out.
  His parents taught him to hold his head high, that he was the equal 
of every human being. They told him to forget any thought of oppression 
and spend his time improving his own value and worth. So he followed 
his father's

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example and began spending every evening reading and writing, a habit 
he continued until he died just a few days ago.
  Dr. Franklin attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where 
he graduated at the top of his class. Then he earned a master's and a 
Ph.D. degree from Harvard College. He had planned to be a lawyer like 
his father.
  But one of his professors encouraged him to tell the story of African 
Americans, to tell their history. His first book, called ``From Slavery 
to Freedom,'' sold 3.5 million copies. He became a full professor at 
Brooklyn College, and he taught one of our colleagues in the Senate. He 
was appointed Chair of the history department at the University of 
Chicago, and many years later he became a professor at Duke University.
  I knew John Hope Franklin. He was a beautiful human being. He never 
gave up on the promise of America. Even though he dug deep into 
America's dark past, he never lost faith in the dream of a new day. He 
believed that if we were willing to take a hard look at where we have 
been, we could reconcile the future of all humanity. He believed in a 
nation and world community at peace with itself. And he did his part.
  John Hope Franklin was not only a great historian, but he was a 
champion of civil rights and social justice. He worked alongside 
Thurgood Marshall to help dismantle legalized segregation and racial 
discrimination. In him we have lost more than a brilliant scholar, more 
than a noble historian, more than a father of African American history. 
We have lost one of the great men of our time.
  There was a gentle power in his presence, an abiding respect in his 
name, a brilliance and humility in his spirit that changed us all. He 
is an inspiration to everyone who met him.
  John Hope Franklin was a prince of a man. By sharing the riches of 
his mind and the wealth of his knowledge, he helped not just to educate 
but to free a people and an entire Nation. He will be deeply missed.

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