John Hope Franklin index

Dana Writes:

After many chapters it is still interesting to read about JHF's success and exactly how much work he put into balancing teaching classes and writing his dissertation. However, chapter 8 is one that really caught my eye and had me thinking.

" I added that if I had to be drafted, it had to be done with due respect to my humanity...."

On page 107, Franklin speaks of a blood test given by the draft board's physician. It is at this time that I realized just how hard it was to be an African American during war time. Although JHF was a scholar who had an impressive education above other whites, he was given the short end of the stick because of his color. Without even a chance to defend his reasoning, he was put on the list for the draft and was forced to face the discrimintation that his brother Buck had also received.

I would like to learn more about the draft process during this time period. I am guessing that because the white's were in charge of the draft, they would choose to their benefit who would go into the war instead of being practical about what positive things that a black like JHF could bring to a person's education.

Even though Franklin felt as though he was being disrespected and looked down upon because of his color, he remembered everything that his mother had told him and continued to be as patriotic as any other American although fairness was not something he would see.

Heather Writes:

I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been to be an African American during WWII and what it must have felt like. Franklin gives us a good idea of how upsetting it was when he writes, "This last experience forced me reluctantly to one irrevocable conclusion, that the United States, however much it was devoted to protecting the freedoms and rights of Europeans, had no respect for me, little interest in my well-being, and not even a desire to utilize my professional services" after he met with the draft board's physician. The effect it had on his brother was truly unsettling and very sad. His life was ruined because of the war and the way that he was treated throughout it.

I thought it was very sad when Franklin talked about his first conversation with W.E.B. Du Bois, which really wasn't much of a conversation at all. Du Bois greets him warnly the second time around four years later, however, because Du Bois was now aware of who he is and what he has published without any recollection of being extremely rude to him much earlier. He didn't care to give Franklin the time of day the first time and was now interviewing him to take over editing a magazine upon his retirement. This also shows the type of influential people Franklin had the opportunity to meet, however, and while he was still quite young.

I also found it interesting when Franklin talks about accpeting the position at Howard University. The one reason he was reluctant to take it was because at thirty-two he saw it as "the very last position" that he could ever hold. "There was nowhere for me to go beyond Howard," despite whatever else he achieved. It's a little upsetting to hear him say that he felt at 32 that he had reached the ultimate position and could go no further despite any other accomplishments he might have

Brian Writes:

This being my first post, I am going to be discussing the first three chapters of the book. I have enjoyed what I have read so far (sorry it took me so long to get this post up) and learning about John Hope Franklins life has been very engaging so far. What his parents, siblings and he endured throughout their lives is tragic and living in such a racist time as African Americans must have been very hard. I am very surprised with the fact that they had to deal with a vast amount of racism, discrimination and stereotypes yet still had positive outlooks on life.

I am still baffled by the paragraph on page 4 where JHF discusses all the “racist barbarism” that he had dealt with throughout his life. He discussed dealing with being discriminated against all the way into his eighties. I read this paragraph a number of times and it just reinforced what it must have been like as an African American in the “American race jungle” throughout the 20th century. Possible topic of research which I got out of racist experiences of JHF is racism against African Americans in the military in the 20th century, specifically for JHF was in World War 2 in the navy.

Another thing I am very impressed by is his hard work ethic in everything he does throughout his life. I fully feel that the positive environment that his parents raised him in caused him to become such a hard worker. Having a father as a lawyer and a mother as a teacher, placed him in an environment where education was important. The fact that he learned to read and write by spending time in his mothers’ class before age five is remarkably impressive. It is very true that he maximized his time and energy in everything he does, because from what I have read so far, he has accomplished extraordinary amounts of things throughout his life. The fact that he was working two jobs and in graduate school is very impressive, it almost makes me feel that I should be doing more with my life!

I also find it interesting that his mentor for entering the field of African American history was a white professor at Fisk College. It showed to me that even though JHF experienced a vast amount of discrimination, that he was next angered by the white race.

Scott Writes:

After reading chapter 5 I realized how loyal JHF was to his friends and to what he believed in. He insisted on paying back Ted Currier so much he took a year off from school to do it. That shows how grateful he was. He also constantly went out of his way to attend a wide variety of African American clubs and organizations. What was also revealing to me was his passion for education. The tone he used throughout the chapter and has been using throughout the book truly displays his passion for fixing racism in America. His tone suggests in order to achieve racial equality it must be done through education. I know this book is an autobiography so their may be no climax to the story, but so far I feel as if that is the way JHF lived his life. He was never trying to reach a high point in his life and settle. He kept on pushing and used his professional career to make changes in things he believed in.

Justin Ci Writes

JHF’s work ethic is impressive especially when I compare it to my own. I can not get over how he managed to split his time between teaching and completing his PhD at Harvard. The man seems like a machine when it comes to obtaining his goals. The amount of work he had to put into organizing his classes and then to spend the time writing his dissertation afterwards would drive me crazy. In addition, the way that he was able to bounce back from Aurelia cancelling their wedding and putting all of his frustration into his work shocked me. I do not know how I would have handled that situation but it is hard to believe that I would have been able to accomplish what he did going through that rough time.

It was disheartening to hear about the difficulties that JHF went through in order to obtain car insurance. In this day and age it is so easy that one does not expect to hear about someone having to spend so much effort into finding something so simple like that. Further, I found it interesting to hear about the anti-Semitism that took place at Harvard because when one thinks of that University one does not imagine hearing about that. Even though I should not have been surprised by it, especially because of the time that he was there, I still was. The one thing that completely caught me off guard was when the John Adam’s Club discarded JHF’s nomination on the bases that he was Jewish.

Another astonishing event was after JHF passed his final oral examination at Harvard, the president of St. Augustine’s berated him for his accomplishments. One would think that he would have been just as enthusiastic as the rest of the community to have an educator with a PhD on his campus; instead he seemed horrified by the fact. Somehow JHF is able to overcome this and continues to teach at St. Augustine’s.

Mike Swanson Writes:

Well, we're at the midpoint of the month, and those who are on schedule are at the midpoint of the book. If you're about there you're watching Franklin make the transition from a private figure--academic scholar into a public figure with influence and reach beyond the classroom and beyond the campus.

If any of you are heading toward an academic career, you're also gettting a little flavor of the academic infighting which goes on. We think of campusses as Ivory Towers. If they are, then the knights on the parapets are throwing verbal boiling oil at the raiders trying to breach entrance. Congratulations to JHF for learning how to play the administrative game with the best of them.

It is hard for us to imagine that hring a black deparment chair would make the New York Times, picture and all. Times have changed a little, I guess.

Are you beginning to get some ideas about a research project which would appeal to you? One of the advantages we have that John Hope Franklin didn't is an ever growing collection of internet archives.

Here's a shot from one of them:

As I said on Thursday, my job is to get your curiosity going and not to show you where everything is. We'll see ifyou can figure out the source of this one

Andrew Writes:

p. 57-85

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Molly Writes:

This weekend I did not get as much reading done as I would have liked but I did get a little bit done so this is what I gathered this weekend.

I have read up to about page 137 (all the way through chapter 9). The pages that I read were mainly focused on the dark and undeniable beginning of WWII and Franklin's struggle with the turmoil that it created in his life. Despite Franklin's issues with the draft and his amazing accomplishment of finishing his enormous book the history of a negro I found the last few pages of chapter 9 to be the most disturbing and interesting. In the last ten pages of chapter 9 Franklin begins to talk about the treatment of his brother (Buck) during his time serving in the armed forces. After reading Franklin's description of the irreversible damage that Buck had suffered after he was discharged from the army I was feeling extremely unsettled. I was not surprised when I read about the severe racism at Harvard or the response to Franklin's honest and constant yearning for desegregation but after reading how terribly scared Buck was after his service to our country I was truly disappointed in our history. It is no secret that black soldiers suffered terrible treatment in the army but there is very little discussion of the repercussions of such treatment. Buck suffered from serious bouts of depression, was unable to find the motivation to go back to work, and may or may not have attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of a second story window. It is disheartening to hear now in the days of deep respect for all veterans that someone who dedicated himself to our country could not and did not receive the same honorable and dedication in return. After Buck's death Franklin became even more motivated to finish the manuscripts for his book and to continue on with his own ambitions. A death in the family, especially the immediate family is a life changing devastating event, and most people cannot say that they took it as well as Franklin did. After reading these chapters I must commend Franklins drive for equality. Many of the most reasonable and intellectual people that I know probably would not have been able to turn such a tragic passing into another factor on his ever growing list of motivations.

Brittany Writes:

My respect for Mr. Franklin grows deeper the more I read his autobiography. I was really struck by his experiences writing and publishing From Slavery to Freedom. Although he received a disappointing review from the New York Times, I was more interested in the review he included from the Chicago Tribune, which declared his book the best of all nine African American histories published to that point from 1887. If time permitted, I think a good research paper could be made comparing/contrasting Mr. Franklin’s book against another of this genre and considering the social, political and educational atmospheres both books were composed in.

Still on the topic of From Slavery to Freedom, I couldn’t help but consider the voluntary ignorance Southerners (and Northerners, as well) lived in to prevent themselves from facing the true reality of the damages of racial discrimination. “Even if they made no attempt to suppress it, the bookstores in the South ‘are apt to be a little diffident in promoting its sale. There is no conspiracy, I am sure…’” Though I don’t believe a conspiracy was the issue, I certainly think that there was, and maybe still is, a cultural tendency in the South to avoid dealing with the real history of African Americans. I think this could also be connected to the martial nature of the South, an area of research also pursued by Mr. Franklin.

Due to the current political situation in the United States, I’ve been thinking a lot about how Americans look at race relations today. Race shows up a lot in the media, but it always seems to be one side or the other making inflexible accusations about one party ‘pulling the race card’ or another being racist. No one is really taking these opportunities, ranging from Harvard’s Professor Gates’ arrest to Representative Joe Wilson’s recent outburst, to discuss the underlying cultural tensions we are all raised with. Hell, there are people naïve enough to think racism will eventually disappear based solely on the fact that we have an African American president. We, as a nation, cannot remain ignorant to our history and the conditions African Americans and other minorities have lived under since before this country’s inception. Racism and discrimination may not exist at the institutional level as it did before the Civil Rights movement, but that doesn’t mean they have gone away. By acting as if all people, regardless of race or any other factor, are treated equally in the U.S. and given the same opportunities, we’re continuing to lie to ourselves. In more cases than not, I’m certain that people accused of ‘pulling the race card’ are simply responding to real instances of discriminatory treatment.

Heather Writes:

found the discussion that Franklin has about the way he was treated in Australia compared to the way he was treated in European countries very interesting. In Australia no one looked at him twice, he was just like any other person, while in Europe he was stared at and followed almost everywhere that he traveled. It really shows how different things are in different parts of the world. Also when he encounters one Nigerian man who says to him, "Welcome home, brother" and shakes Franklin's hand. Despite being of African descent Franklin admits that he had never thought of Africa as home, but now that the thought was put into his head he was ready to think of Africa as his "home away from home."

I also found it intersesting how many instances in these chapters he percieves that the government is taking advantage of him. However, in the end when speaking of the United States Commission on Civil Rights Franklin says, "If I became party to its machinations, it was only because I sought, as I had and would in numerous other instances, to contribute to the positive development of the nation as a whole." He tries to make it clear that he knew that in many cases he was being used, but that he allowed it so he could try and change the way things were

Andrew Writes:

Once again I was impressed by the determination that John Hope Franklin showed in all aspects of his life. He never let anything get him down completely and no matter what happen he always gave everything his best efforts.

Back at Harvard, JHF took a class on Charters in England. The material he was given to read was primarily original documents written in Latin and Franklin recalled many of the students leaving the class saying they could not read that material because they had only had two years of college Latin. JHF knew his professor expect a great deal from him and sought to teach himself Latin if he had to in order to be able to do well in the class.

Something that also stood out to me was that JHF stated that he found time to audit law classes in his “spare time.” It seemed to me that he barely had any spare time with his studies and working to support himself, but he was motivated that he found any opportunity to learn and better himself. That year he took a class with Professor Frankfurter and half through the class Frankfurter was nominated by FDR to take a open spot on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Professor continued to teach right up until one of his collages delivered the news of his Senate confirmation during a lecture in which John Hope was present. The amount of people JHF encountered in his life is just amazing to me as I read and he talks so causally about all of them.

One other dream John Hope has was to marry his college sweetheart, Aurelia, and after years apart as they both developed their careers and advanced their education his dream would finally come true, but only after much difficulty. Aurelia parents did not take to John Hope and Aurelia eventually broke off their engagement. Finally though, the two were married in Aurelia living room and they began their life together. It seemed to me that above all his other accomplishment this was is happiest and most fulfilling

Ted Writes:

The book is quickly beginning to pick up now that you have an established base of knowledge to work from about JHF. I finished my reading at Chapter 10. Franklin is finally becoming a name within his field as an author and all around scholar of history. All the while his family Is having some major issues. His mother had passed away and the military pushed his brother to the point of suicide. These horrible experiences are happening to Franklin yet he is still as successful as ever. Following his brother’s death seemed to be the time in which he was most successful in his work. Franlin notes that it was nice to be able to solely focus on work and nothing else. His book From Slavery to Freedom was finished really quickly, I believe do to the adversity faced with the death of his brother.

Franklin seems to meet adversity with a desire to accomplish. His mother dies and he gets his PhD from Harvard and then his brother dies and he becomes a successful author and established historian among the African American community. Franklin lets nothing stop him from achieving all of his goals. He was even able to talk himself out of being drafted in the armed forces. Explaining that he was one of two doctorial historians in his area and that taking one would be reducing the filed by half; statistics that the recruiters could not argue with and provided Franklin a pass from fighting in the war. Franklin did at one time volunteer to aid in the war effort through the navy but they refused his service due to the color of his skin. Even in a time of desperate need the military would not take a volunteer simply because he was black. Franklin’s intelligence and drive for success consistently seems to help him always overcome all problems that sprout up in his life, the main reason why Franklin is revered as an inspiration to so many.