The Legacy of John Hope Franklin: The Howard Years
Howard University will honor the life of John Hope Franklin and his contributions to the history of African-Americans and the advancement of civil and human rights in the United States by hosting a symposium April 8-10.
This symposium is sponsored by the Howard University Board of Trustees, COAS, the Howard University History Department and Phi Beta Kappa's Gamma of the District of Columbia chapter at Howard University.
Franklin (right) was a professor of history at Howard from 1947-1956, where he set the highest standard for excellence in scholarship, research and service. His book, From Slavery to Freedom: a History of American Negroes (Alfred Knopf, 1947) was published the year he began teaching at Howard.
During his Howard years, Franklin trained numerous scholars and was engaged in the legal and legislative research that under girded the Brown v. Board brief for Thurgood Marshall and his team at the Legal Defense Fund. In addition, the symposium will highlight his pioneering archival research and international initiatives.
The program will include a keynote addresses by Evelyn Brooks-Higginbotham of Harvard University, Mary Frances Berry of the University of Pennsylvania, Charles Ogletree of Harvard University and Ronald Walters of University of Maryland-College Park.
Allison Blakely, past president of Phi Beta Kappa (2006-2009) and the George and Joyce Wein Professor of African-American Studies at Boston University, will share remarks on Franklin's Phi Beta Kappa legacy during the April 10 luncheon program.
Franklin served as president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society from 1973-1976. One of the Society's most illustrious presidents, he was an extraordinary exemplar of its motto, “love of learning is the guide of life,” and its core principles symbolized by the three stars on its gold key: “friendship, morality and learning.”
Phi Beta Kappa was just one of many organizations where Franklin broke down longstanding racial barriers to leadership.
LOCATION: Howard University, Washington D.C.
PRICE: Full Program $100; Luncheon Program $75
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Jeanne Maddox Toungara
Associate Professor of History
Howard University - DGH 316
2441 Sixth Street NW
Washington, DC 20059
Tel: (202) 806-6815/9324
Fax: (202) 806-4471
Email: jtoungara@howard.edu