Howard University Hosts John Hope Franklin Tribute: WASHINGTON – Dr. John Hope Franklin, one of the most revered and respected historians of the 20th century, died last year of congestive heart failure at the age of 94. But scholars who convened in Washington Thursday for a three-day symposium on Franklin's life agreed that his memory will forever live through his scholarship.
Franklin's book, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, served as a manuscript for a generation of Blacks determined to end Jim Crow segregation. Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, professor of African American studies at Harvard University and co-author of the book’s latest edition, explained how she had revamped the 63-year-old historical staple.
“One of the things that I try to do with the book is bring new scholarship,” said Higginbotham. “For example, Stephanie Camp has written a book where she talks about the alternative geographies of [runaway] slaves. Women slaves ran away differently from male slaves, so that's a new way of thinking about runaways.”
The book, emblazoned with a photo of President Barack Obama on the cover, also discusses a number of new subjects such as globalization, Brown v. Board of Education, the Cold War, Hurricane Katrina, and Obama's election. It also incorporates compelling facts about African-American musical traditions.
