Alpha Phi Alpha’s John Hope Franklin Was a Groundbreaking Historian and Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

Did you know that one of the most influential historians in American history, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.? His name was Dr. John Hope Franklin, and his scholarship reshaped how the nation understands Black history.

John Hope Franklin was born on January 2, 1915, in Rentiesville, Oklahoma. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fisk University, the historically Black university in Nashville, in 1935, and went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Harvard University. He was a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. According to Duke University Libraries, Franklin was initiated into the fraternity at Fisk University in 1932 and went on to serve as president of its chapter there, a detail Congressman Robert C. Scott also recalled in a tribute on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The fraternity, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans, was founded in 1906 at Cornell University.

Franklin became one of the most important scholars of his generation. In 1947, he published From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, a landmark work that has sold millions of copies, been translated into multiple languages, and remained a cornerstone text in the study of Black history for generations.

His influence reached across the entire field of history. As KUT documents, Franklin authored numerous acclaimed works, including The Emancipation Proclamation, The Militant South, Reconstruction After the Civil War, and The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-first Century, and in 1976 he was chosen to deliver the prestigious Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. He went on to lead nearly every major professional organization in his field, serving as president of the American Studies Association, the Southern Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the American Historical Association, breaking racial barriers at the very top of American scholarship.

He also broke barriers throughout his teaching career. He taught at Howard University and other historically Black institutions before becoming the first African American to chair a history department at a majority-white college, at Brooklyn College in 1956. He later taught at the University of Chicago and became the first Black scholar to hold an endowed chair at Duke University.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Franklin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. As Britannica notes, Clinton later appointed him to lead the advisory board of a national initiative on race. Franklin also received the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal and more than 100 honorary degrees over his career.

Dr. John Hope Franklin died on March 25, 2009, at the age of 94. From the halls of Fisk University to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Brother John Hope Franklin spent his life telling the truth about the Black experience in America.

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