Duke University Professor Emeritus of History Will Also Receive an Honorary Degree

John Hope Franklin, one of America’s most illustrious authors and historians, will address DePaul University’s graduates of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the June 13 commencement at McCormick Place, Lakeside Center Level Three, 2301 S. Lake Shore Dr. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m.

The 84-year-old Franklin’s career as a writer and academician spans more than 50 years. Currently, he is professor emeritus of history at Duke University, and was a legal history professor in the university’s law school for seven years. Franklin’s roots in Chicago run deep because he served on the faculty of the history department at the University of Chicago (U of C) for almost two decades. In 1982, he became professor emeritus there.

A native of Oklahoma, Franklin earned his undergraduate degree at Fisk University in Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. He has taught at numerous institutions of higher education including his alma mater Fisk, St. Augustine College, North Carolina Central University and Howard University. Before joining the U of C in 1964, he went to Brooklyn College as chairman of the history department, where he served for eight years.

Franklin will be conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during DePaul’s commencement ceremony. DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences cites Franklin as having entered academia at a challenging time for a black man and "through the discipline of history, not only overcame those prejudices which hindered you, but helped enlighten a nation about the history of your people in America."

As an author, Franklin is best known for "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans." His other works include "The Emancipation Proclamation," "The Militant South,"and "The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-first Century." He and his son, John Whittington Franklin, collaborated to edit the autobiography of his father, "My Life and Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin."

In 1998, Franklin re-united with one of his students, Loren Schweninger, to write "Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation" (Oxford University Press). Finally, Franklin is said to be slowing down a bit to complete "The Vintage Years," his autobiography.

The indefatigable Franklin has served on numerous national commissions and delegations, and was recently chairman of the advisory board for "One America: The President’s Initiative on Race." In 1980 he was a United States delegate to the 21^st General Conference of UNESCO in Belgrade. He has served as Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University, as consultant on American education in the Soviet Union, Fulbright Professor in Australia and lecturer in American history in the People’s Republic of China.

Among his many awards are the Jefferson Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal and the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. In June of 1997 a documentary of Franklin’s life, "First Person Singular: John Hope Franklin," produced by Lives and Legacies Films, was shown on PBS.