Statement from NEH Acting Chairman Carole M. Watson on the Death of Historian John Hope Franklin

“John Hope Franklin, a former member of NEH's National Council on the Humanities, was not only a great historian, but also a great American and exemplary citizen who richly deserved the numerous high honors he received, among them NEH's Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities in 1976 and the Charles Frankel Prize in 1993. John Hope Franklin’s life and work both helped to change the course of our nation's history and illuminated our understanding of it. Those whose lives he touched through his teaching, writing, and public speaking, as well as the nation at large, will always be indebted to him.”