Washington, D.C. - Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Representative David Price (NC-4) today announced similar resolutions in their respective chambers honoring North Carolina historian John Hope Franklin, who passed away yesterday, at the age of 94. Senator Hagan introduced the Senate Resolution today, and Rep. Price will introduce a House version when the chamber reconvenes on Monday. The resolutions have strong support from the North Carolina congressional delegation.

"John Hope Franklin was an iconic historian who achieved the pinnacle of success in his professional life and whose work will live on for many years to come. His distinguished career as a public servant and scholar are an inspiration to so many," said Senator Hagan. "Dr. Franklin shattered barriers that seem unimaginable in today's world, and he did so with elegance and perseverance. North Carolina was fortunate to count this fine individual among its residents. Our nation lost one of the most brilliant minds of a generation in Dr. Franklin, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this difficult time."

"Dr. Franklin's scholarship, from St. Augustine's and North Carolina College in the 1930s and 40s to his distinguished careers at Chicago and Duke, showed that African-American history is inseparable from any telling of the American story," said Rep. Price. "We honor his tremendous contributions to American history, but his legacy is not only the study of the past. The greater understanding he fostered lights a path for present and future citizens to live together in a more unified nation. Lisa and I join North Carolina and the nation in grieving his loss. From his beloved orchids to his wise counsel, he shared his friendship generously and will be greatly missed."

Other members of the North Carolina congressional delegation joined Hagan and Price in praising Dr. Franklin's life and accomplishments.

"John Hope Franklin was not only a historian, he was a history maker," said Senator Richard Burr (R-NC). "John spent his life fighting injustice, promoting equality, and fostering understanding across racial lines. His work in the field of promoting African-American history has forever changed the way our nation will look at our collective past."

"As a premiere historian, John Hope Franklin made immeasurable contributions by educating us on the integral role that Africans and African-Americans played in American history," said Rep. Mel Watt (NC-12). "As an activist, John Hope Franklin was an active mentor and educator of the leaders of the civil rights movement as well as an unapologetic advocate for full and equal citizenship. As a friend, he was a mentor and truly wonderful spirit and inspiration to me and my wife. I am deeply saddened by the loss of such a monumental figure. But I am also consoled by the fact that he lived and used every minute of his life for the most outstanding, decent and noble purposes."

"John Hope Franklin was a great educator, historian and humanitarian. He dedicated his entire life to trying to bring people together to make the world a better place," said Rep. Bob Etheridge (NC-2).

"John Hope Franklin changed the way we look at our history," said Representative Brad Miller (NC-13). "American history is not just the story of European settlers and their descendents. Franklin made sure that the story of American history included the contributions and experiences of all Americans."

"John Hope Franklin's lifetime of work was crucial to America coming to the understanding that history would be incomplete without African Americans, and that America could only become whole by confronting the lingering ghosts of slavery and segregation," Rep. G.K. Butterfield (NC-1) said.

"I am saddened by the death of Dr. John Hope Franklin, yet I know future generations will celebrate the accomplishments of his life," said Rep. Larry Kissell (NC-8). "He was an American treasure."

John Hope Franklin was born on January 2, 1915 in Rentiesville, Oklahoma, the grandson of a slave and the son of Buck Colbert Franklin, one of the first black lawyers in the Oklahoma Indian territory, and Mollie Parker Franklin, a schoolteacher and community leader. Franklin broke numerous racial barriers as the first African-American department chair at a predominantly white institution, Brooklyn College; the first African-American professor to hold an endowed chair at Duke University; and the first African-American President of the American Historical Association. Franklin's 1947 book, "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans," is still considered the definitive account of the African-American experience in the United States. His research contributed to the success of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP's legal victory in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, which ended the "separate but equal" doctrine in America's public schools.

Franklin inspired the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary & International Studies at Duke University, a consortium of academic programs that encourages creative scholarship, the exchange of ideas, and a variety of perspectives and methodologies to revitalize notions of how knowledge is gained and shared.

Duke University has created a website that chronicles John Hope Franklin's life and accomplishments. Please visit http://www.duke.edu/johnhopefranklin/ for more information.

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