Three weeks after respected historian John Hope Franklin passed away, faculty, students and alumni gathered Friday at the School of Law to remember the educator's illustrious career in history and law.
Approximately 110 people--mostly faculty from the law school-celebrated Franklin's scholastic achievements and reflected on a life devoted to both history and law. After retiring from his post in the history department in 1985, Franklin spent seven years teaching legal history at the School of Law.
A panel of three professors and one faculty member, all friends of Franklin, spoke of the historian's life, inspirations, struggles and most of all, successes throughout his 94 years.
David Levi, dean of the School of Law, began the event with Franklin's biography. Levi spoke of Franklin's early exposure to history through his grandfather, a former slave, as well as his introduction to laws during childhood in the segregated states. He also noted Franklin's perceptions of the connection between history and law.
"John Hope Franklin used to say that his life as a historian wouldn't have been complete without his seven years at Duke law school," Levi said.
Thavolia Glymph, associate professor of African and African American studies and history who knew Franklin for approximately 30 years, spoke of Franklin's youth during the "law of white supremacy." This, she said, inspired him to enter his undergraduate years at Fisk University with the pursuit of studying law, but he was eventually "overcome by the power of history."
Glymph added that despite having written fewer books than his peer historians, Franklin carried the intellectual legacy of W.E.B. DuBois, a historian and civil rights activist. DuBois was the first African American to receive his Ph.D. from Harvard University, followed by Franklin who became the second. Later, the two became friends, Glymph added.
"Dr. Franklin showed us that there is a 'we' in history," she said. "I will remember him for showing us how to live a scholarly and humane life."
William Leuchtenburg, William Rand Kenan Jr. professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Franklin's friend of 50 years, also touched on Franklin's humanity.
"John Hope was conspicuously a man of equability," Leuchtenburg said. "How a man who had to endure all he endured and be a man of such sweet temperament [is amazing]," he said.
Leuchtenburg added that Franklin distinguished himself as being a proud American as opposed to simply African American, noting that Franklin ought to be thought of as "one of the great Americans of the 20th century."
Walter Dellinger, Douglas B. Maggs professor emeritus of law at Duke who co-taught a class with Franklin and Leuchtenburg, said that in addition to seeing himself as an American, Franklin also saw himself as a southern historian.
Dellinger spoke of Franklin as an educator and said his presence and compelling stories frequently moved students to tears. Despite witnessing constant racism, Franklin had the unique ability to speak about his encounters objectively, Dellinger said.
Laura Bradley, Trinity '89 and Law '92, who attended the event and had Franklin as a professor at the School of Law, said the historian was a dynamic speaker who shared his experiences candidly. She, like Dellinger, noted Franklin's objectivity in telling stories.
Like the other panelists, Dellinger also dicussed Franklin's humanity and ideals.
"John Hope Franklin never compromised on principle," Dellinger said. "It could be said of him that there was a fierce militancy.... It was not just what he did but how he did it that made him great."
The panel's stories of Franklin provided audience members with a fuller picture of the historian's career, several attendees said.
Dr. Onye Akwari, an associate professor of cell biology and general surgery, said the event helped him understand Franklin's values in his pursuits.
"I find it difficult to weave together each aspect of [Franklin's] life, but I see that there was unity and that unity was his humanity," said Akwari, who knew Franklin as a patient and as a teacher.
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