After nearly a decade of discussion, planning and development, the park located in Tulsa, Okla., commemorating the late John Hope Franklin—one of America’s most prominent African American historians—will formally open Wednesday, according to a Tulsa World release.
John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park was also built in memory of the dozens who died and hundreds who were injured in the Tulsa race riot of 1921.
The riot, fueled by previous racial tension, occurred in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District after a black man was accused of assaulting a white woman in an elevator. Fires from the riot left thousands homeless and penniless, the release said.
The park features two sculptures by artist Ed Dwight and several “story boards” describing Greenwood District and the 1921 race riot, the release noted.
“[The park] is intended to foster Franklin’s approach to history: acknowledge the past, learn from it and look to the future,” officials told Tulsa World.
The release also stated that long-term plans for the park include a research library and a conference center, which will host national and local events “focused on community understanding.”
Franklin, a James B. Duke professor emeritus of history, was the namesake for The John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies, which opened in 2000 to celebrate his ideals.
Franklin spent more than 30 years at Duke, but he grew up in Tulsa and his family essentially lost everything during the 1921 riot, according to Franklin’s obituary in the Washington Post. He went on to attend Fisk University and Harvard University and taught at several other institutions in addition to Duke, including Howard University and University of Chicago.
Franklin specialized in African-American history and the role of race in the United States. Some of his most notable publications include “From Slavery to Freedom,” “The Militant South” and “A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Antebellum North.”
He also earned an array of honors such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Organization of American Historians’ Award for Outstanding Achievement. He was also an adviser to Thurgood Marshall’s legal team in the momentous Brown v. Board of Education case that helped end segregation.
Franklin died from congestive heart failure at the age of 94 in Durham, N.C.
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