Noted African-American Historian, Fulbright Alumnus and Former Chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

John Hope Franklin addresses Fulbright alumni and friends at the Fulbright Association’s 30th Anniversary Dinner and 2007 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal ceremony.  Courtesy of Fulbright Association.  Photo by Sharon Farmer.

Born January 2, 1915, in Oklahoma, Dr. Franklin was only two generations removed from slavery in the United States.  His grandfather had been a slave, and the racism Dr. Franklin faced as a child, and throughout his life, set the course of his academic research.  Dr. Franklin graduated from Fisk University in 1935, and received a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1941.  During his early academic career, Dr. Franklin taught at St. Augustine’s College and at what is now North Carolina Central University, both part of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) network.  In 1947, Dr. Franklin published the influential From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans, elevating the study of African-American history to new prominence.  Over the next six decades, Dr. Franklin also held appointments at Howard University, Brooklyn College (where he became the first African-American to chair a history department at an institution that was not an HBCU), the University of Chicago, and Duke University.  

In 1954, Dr. Franklin was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to lecture at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.  He would return to Fulbright in 1960 as a short-term lecturer at the Australian National University in Canberra.  In 1962, Dr. Franklin’s accomplishments were further recognized by President John F. Kennedy, who appointed him to the FSB.  Dr. Franklin served as an FSB member until 1969, and was elected FSB chair during the last three years of his tenure.  In 1986, Dr. Franklin was selected to be a Fulbright 40th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow in Zimbabwe. 

Throughout his career, Dr. Franklin also delivered lectures in over 30 countries on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Information Agency.  In 1973, Dr. Franklin was chosen by the FSB (along with Nobel Laureates Charles H. Townes and Paul Samuelson and author John Updike) to represent the United States in the inaugural Lincoln Lecturer program, which commemorated the 25th anniversary of the educational exchange program originally initiated by the Fulbright Act.   The objective of the Lincoln Lecturer program was to share with the rest of the world the finest in American scholarship and intellectual achievement.  Dr. Franklin visited Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan.  In commenting to the FSB on his return, Dr. Franklin stated: “I have traveled a great deal in various capacities abroad, but I have never had the kind of reception I had as a Lincoln Lecturer…the press coverage and the attention generally was nothing short of remarkable.”        

Dr. Franklin’s legacy includes not only numerous publications on the black experience in America, more than 130 honorary degrees, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 (the highest honor a U.S. civilian can receive), but also the influence he has had on thousands of Fulbright students, scholars, teachers and professionals in the U.S. and worldwide.  The U.S. Department of State and all of its partner organizations in the Fulbright community salute Dr. Franklin for his contributions to the Fulbright Program.

In a statement released by the White House, President Barack Obama said: “Because of the life John Hope Franklin lived, the public service he rendered and the scholarship that was the mark of his distinguished career, we all have a richer understanding of who we are as Americans and our journey as a people. Dr. Franklin will be deeply missed, but his legacy is one that will surely endure.”

For more information about Dr. Franklin’s life and work, please visit Duke University’s tribute website.

Back to the top