'Walking the Tightrope': John Hope Franklin and the Dilemmas of African American History in Action

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My dissertation uses the life, work and public advocacy of the African American historian of slavery John Hope Franklin (1915-2009) as a lens through which to explore history's unique role within African American intellectual life during the long Civil Rights Movement. By placing Franklin's c.150 publications and extensive public activism into the context provided by recently de-embargoed documents at the John Hope Franklin Papers at Duke University, it will investigate the impact of racialisation within the historical profession and the historian-activist's role in challenging such constraints, particularly through reaching audiences beyond the academy. Studying Franklin's varied research also reveals the contours and evolving arguments of the historiography of topics ranging from African History to the history of slavery, the civil war, Reconstruction, and the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement. These varied interests were summarised in the best-selling textbook of African American History 'From Slavery to Freedom,' the first popular/introductory textbook to cover the whole panoply of Black History. The history of African American History can be seen in microcosm in this textbook's evolution from being the bible of the early civil rights movement and liberal (particularly white) integrationism to being an allegedly passe and much-criticised work of moderacy by the emergence of Black Studies in the 1970s. Finally, Franklin's long and storied career also provides insights regarding the changing status and roles of public intellectuals over the 20th-century, particularly of Black public intellectuals. Ultimately, this project aims to help construct the anti-racist history that the rise of Black Lives Matter and the recent 'statue wars' have shown to be so sorely needed on both sides of the Atlantic