In Loving Memory of Dr. John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin, the scholar who was a pioneer in the field of African American history and dominated it for nearly six decades, has died at the age of 94.

Franklin, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, was a scholar who brought intellectual rigor as well an engaged passion to his work. He wrote about history - one of his books, From Slavery to Freedom, is considered a core text on the African American experience, more than 60 years after its publication - and he lived it.

Franklin worked on the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case, joined protestors in a 1965 march led by Martin Luther King, Jr. in Montgomery, Ala. and headed President Clinton's 1997 national advisory board on race.

Though Dr. Franklin gained national recognition for his work on President Clinton's 1997 taskforce on race, his reputation as a scholar was made in 1947 with the publication of his book,"From Slavery to Freedom: A History of frican-Americans," which is still considered the definitive account of the black experience in America.

At the 92nd Annual ASALH Convention, we had the privilege of honoring Dr. Franklin and this seminal work. Conventioneers and the public were treated to conversations and special moments with Dr. Franklin who conveyed stories from his life that helped to shape him into the scholar that he became.

He received more than 130 honorary degrees, and served as president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the American Studies Association, the Southern Historical Association, the Organization of American