Remembrances for Franklin abound
Our hearts are warmed by the outpouring of remembrances for John Hope Franklin. We’ve been blogging about it the past couple of days (here and here), but there’s no letting up yet.
In a New York Times editorial, Brent Staples cites John Hope’s “groundbreaking work on free Negroes in antebellum North Carolina” (that would be JHF’s first book, The Free Negro in North Carolina) and wishes he could have just one more conversation with the historian.
President Obama offered a statement.
So did Bill Clinton, who had worked with JHF on the president’s committee on race in 1997.
Here’s a rundown of just some of the tributes and remembrances that have appeared in the past 2 days. There will no doubt be more (and have been more that I’ve missed), but here’s a sampling of what the public is feeling and saying about John Hope.
From the university community
Fisk University, where JHF earned his undergraduate degree and later returned to teach.
The John Hope Franklin Center at Duke Universtiy, where he was emeritus professor, has a special tribute site. Duke’s main remembrance page is here.
North Carolina Central University, where John Hope once taught, compiles a tribute including photos and documents related to his time there.
Stan Katz remembers John Hope in a blog post for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Katz calls The Free Negro in North Carolina his favorite of Franklin’s books.)
Another post at the Chronicle includes lots of comments from readers who knew or had their lives affected by JHF.
From NPR
StoryCorps: In this 3-minute interview with his son, John Hope recounts a jolting experience of racism as a boy scout.
Tell Me More: Professors Karla Holloway and David Levering Lewis talk about John Hope’s leagacy; there’s also a link on that page to an All Things Considered interview from 2005, on the publication of his memoir, Mirror to America.
Morning Edition has a remembrance that aired 3/26/09; there’s also a link on that page to an All Things Considered remembrance that aired 3/25/09.
Weekend Edition host Scott Simon writes a blog post about his family’s friendship with John Hope.
The Story’s Dick Gordon remembers JHF’s life and the changes he helped bring about.
From other television and radio
On PBS, Tavis Smiley aired a tribute to John Hope on Wednesday, including material from a previous interview with the historian. You can listen or read the transcript.
Jim Lehrer airs footage of a Gwen Ifill interview with JHF on The News Hour.
CNN’s In Session pays tribute. Here’s the video, here’s the text.
From newspapers
At the Washington Post, Walter Dellinger recalls JHF’s involvement in the civil rights movement. The WaPo’s obituary includes comments from Henry Louis Gates.
The New York Times obituary is here.
The Baltimore Sun
From other institutions
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recounts JHF’s testimony in support of the right of Greenwood, OK, riot victims to sue the government. There’s a link to Nell Irvin Painter’s talk about JHF at the 2008 National Preservation Conference in Tulsa, OK.
The National Visionary Leadership Project features lots of video clips of JHF in its oral history archive.