Franklin, John Hope, 1915-

• 1915, Jan. 2: John Hope Franklin born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma to Buck Colbert and Mollie Franklin
• 1935: Completed Bachelor of Arts in history at Fisk University
• 1940, June 11: Married Aurelia E. Whittington, librarian
• 1941: Completed Ph.D. at Harvard University
• 1947: Published From Slavery to Freedom
• 1954: Commissioned by Thurgood Marshall, then legal counselor for the NAACP, to research and write a series of articles for the upcoming Brown vs. Board of Education hearings.
• 1964 - 1982 : Taught at the University of Chicago after serving on the faculties of several other colleges and universities
• 1976: Gave first Jefferson Lecture, which received the Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize in 1985, when it was published
• 1983: Joined the faculty of History at Duke University; also taught legal history for the Law School at Duke (1985-1992)
• 1985: Published George Washington Williams, A Biography
• 1990: Published selection of writings entitled Race and History: Selected Essays, 1938-1988
• 1995: Received the first W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Fisk University Alumni Association, the Organization of American Historians' Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Alpha Phi Alpha Award of Merit, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• 1997: Published My Life and an Era: the Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin, edited by Franklin and his son, John Whittington Franklin
• 1997 - 1998 : Chair of President Clinton's Advisory Board for the President’s Initiative on Race
• 2005: Publication of Mirror on America: An Autobiography of John Hope Franklin

For additional biographical information, consult Who's Who in America, 2005, 59th Ed., Vol. 1, A-L.

From the guide to the John Hope Franklin Papers, 1889-1998 and undated, bulk 1970-1998, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)