Mirror to America

by John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin lived through America's most defining twentieth-century transformation, the dismantling of legally protected racial segregation. A renowned scholar, he has explored that transformation in its myriad aspects, notably in his 3.5-million-copy bestseller, From Slavery to Freedom . Born in 1915, he, like every other African American, could not help but he was evicted from whites-only train cars, confined to segregated schools, threatened―once with lynching―and consistently subjected to racism's denigration of his humanity. Yet he managed to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard; become the first black historian to assume a full professorship at a white institution, Brooklyn College; and be appointed chair of the University of Chicago's history department and, later, John B. Duke Professor at Duke University. He has reshaped the way African American history is understood and taught and become one of the world's most celebrated historians, garnering over 130 honorary degrees. But Franklin's participation was much more fundamental than that. From his effort in 1934 to hand President Franklin Roosevelt a petition calling for action in response to the Cordie Cheek lynching, to his 1997 appointment by President Clinton to head the President's Initiative on Race, and continuing to the present, Franklin has influenced with determination and dignity the nation's racial conscience. Whether aiding Thurgood Marshall's preparation for arguing Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, marching to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965, or testifying against Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987, Franklin has pushed the national conversation on race toward humanity and equality, a life long effort that earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1995. Intimate, at times revelatory, Mirror to America chronicles Franklin's life and this nation's racial transformation in the twentieth century, and is a powerful reminder of the extent to which the problem of America remains the problem of color.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Memoir, Race, Politics

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

John Hope Franklin, Ph.D. (History, Harvard University, 1941; M.A., History, Harvard U., 1936; B.A., Fisk University, 1935), was the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University. He also had served as President of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association.

Reviews

[Sarah Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of years ago Dad asked for this book for Christmas. And, in the way that books are handled in my family, it was re-gifted to me this past Christmas.
This book should be required reading for anyone trying to understand the history of race relations in the U.S.
Franklin gives us a fascinating view of the civil rights movement from the inside, but with the analytical bent of a professional academic. Stories like his make the history of race relations in the United States come to life in a way that a history textbook just cannot. It’s also interesting to learn about how race relations played out in academe; his stories of prejudice and discrimination even within the academic profession are shocking and illustrate just how pervasive racism was, even within the “ivory tower” of higher education.
Many reviewers have commented on the stilted quality of his writing, and it’s true that it is very dry. I don’t know if it’s a function of his generation or a reflection of his personality, but throughout the book I kept thinking that it read like a letter from my grandfather, who was about 5 years older than Franklin if my memory & math are correct.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please don't get me wrong, I have a great respect for men like Mr Franklin. If it weren't for pioneers like him, God only know what my life would be like...

That said, this book was verbose. How many times did he stress how perfect his family was: his mother the perfect wife and mother and teacher, his father the perfect father and husband and lawyer. And he and his siblings were quick learners (he could write when he was a toddler, 3 or so yrs old). How hard he studied, how quick information came to him, how hungry he was for knowledge. Your parents were scholarly, dignified Black people and so are you. I get the point. There isn't anything wrong with having pride, for your race, for your family, for the struggles of your family. I have that same pride, but I'm not bragging about it. Not that I can even compare my experience with him, given the laws of the time. Either way I put it, I feel like I'm being disrespectful. Someone come and cuff both my ears. I'll stop.

This book was long, with that tiny squeezed together font that starts to resemble like ants crawling on the page after a while (and I have 20/20 vision in both eyes, as told to my by my Mid-Atlantic eye physician January of this year when I had my checkup).

I got into the 200s and just couldn't make it any further. I did my best.

[Clif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used Google Streetview to take a look at present day Rentiesville, Oklahoma, the birthplace of John Hope Franklin in 1915. It's a dusty hamlet of a few streets and scattered houses, population around 100, founded only six years before Franklin was born. One couldn't have a more modest start, particularly being black at a time when America was deeply and openly racist.

Yet that's where the story of this remarkable gentleman and scholar begins with a family struggle to stay above water financially. In a text that is as restrained as the man himself, Franklin takes us along on his never flagging climb to the highest reaches of academia as the department of history chair at the University of Chicago.

Though he encounters many racist insults along the way, he never allows it to make him bitter or to keep him from appreciating the people, both white and black, who encourage him recognizing his intellectual and personal power. The love of his life, Aurelia, steadfastly backs his career moves supporting him in their 50+ year marriage until she succumbs to dementia of which he gives a poignant account. His life extends to 94 years of activity until the end. I can't imagine a more productive life.

The reader learns of how Franklin's books came to be written amid a multitude of demands for his time due to his many positions teaching at, to name a few, Harvard, Duke, U of C and Howard University. Honors come to him and requests to participate in, if not head various panels take him around the world where he observes marked differences between the United States and other lands regarding race. President Clinton seeks his advice, TV and radio interviews are given. The man clearly hated to turn down a request and yet was able to keep his relaxed and respectful manner despite the stress.

For all that I read in this book, I wondered how I had never heard of John Hope Franklin until after he was gone (d. 2005). It certainly hasn't been because he didn't do newsworthy things, but possibly because he didn't seek celebrity, sticking to his desire to dedicate his life to his profession as historian, his desire for racial justice and, endearingly, his continual effort to inspire students to do their best. Awards and honors came well deserved for this tireless man from Rentiesville whose life shows the power for good that comes with well directed ambition. He took the idea of virtue seriously.

[Tino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Franklin is an interesting man so the book could’ve been written in a way to reflect that. The story of his life is 5 out of 5 but this book only deserves a 3.

[Elizabeth Higginbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mirror to America by John Hope Franklin is an amazing autobiography. Reading this book after reading the biography of Edward Everett Just, who was born in the previous century. Franklin born in 1915 faces so many challenges as he lives in Oklahoma. The riot in Tulsa disrupts his family as his father’s law practice is destroyed and the lives of his clients. John and his sister lives separate from his father, with his father taking the train for reunions when it is possible. We know about the destruction of the Black community in Tulsa in 1921 but looking at the lasting impact on a family is instructive.

Franklin’s education and growing up is all shaped by negotiations with segregation. Yet, he does well in school and has a broad work experiences, both heling his father as well as other boy jobs. His mother is a teacher, and during her time as a single parent, she just takes her toddler to school with her. John learned early and along with his sister, takes the next step to Fisk. He is working as well as schooling, which is a pattern that will shape his educational experience. Initially thinking about following his father into law, which was problematic, since even Black clients favored White attorney, since early in the 20th century Black lawyers had little credibility in the courts. Yet, his father preserved, which is a model for Franklin.

At Fisk, to which Franklin not only meets his future wife, but creates many friendships. Franklin is encouraged to pursue history by his mentor Ted Currier, who actually helping to fund his first year at Harvard. I know Cambridge from a later era, but Franklin had to rent a room from a Black family that rented to people of his race. The classes are a struggle, but mostly he is facing limited expectations. Unlike Professor Just who had significant barriers for most of his career, Franklin coming later does begin along the same road, that is teaching only at historical Black institutions. He is able break into White institutions, initially only summer school teaching, but the change comes with his working at Brooklyn College as both professor and chair in 1956.

Franklin’s scholarship is also amazing, as he is studying southern history in many institutions and archives that are not generally open to Black people. To comply with rules of segregation, separate study space has to be set up for him. He also has a key to the stacks, so that he does not have to “ask” White staff to do work for him, yet these rules are modified. We are troubled by microaggressions, but these rough policies of exclusion are not enough to stop Franklin.
We see Franklin on many fronts: building a family and desegregating neighborhoods, working in departments and mending barriers, and doing path breaking scholarship, including Afro-American studies. Franklin is also active in public life, social policy but also building connections across international lines. Someone of his stature is pulled in many directions, but he remains committed to scholarship and teaching. His career takes him to U of Chicago, a private institution with more resources than the public institution of Brooklyn College. Again, Franklin thrives and works with many graduate students. You can see the many demands made on his and his commitment to past and present institutions. His wife and son do follow him, but he is rationale and thinks about their personal issues.

Franklin who become known to many citizens as he chaired President Clinton’s Initiative on Race in 1997, but Franklin had been on the front lines for decades. As a scholar who came of age in a later era, I can appreciate the steps he made for himself and others, but also the way he pioneered research during a time when little credence was paid to the lives of Black Americans. Familiar with From Slavery to Freedom, I did not realize how groundbreaking it was and the challenge to actually do the work.

He relocates to North Carolina, with institutional affiliations and then an attachment to Duke. Freed from the rough winters, he settles into a community where he and his wife are welcomed. He the face the challenges of aging.

There is a grace to the man and a humbleness. He was willing to share his insights with others. He spoke at a conference for people who had been part of the Ford post-doctoral fellowship programs. He helped put microaggression in perspective and how we had to value our own health and well-being. It was good to read that he had been surrounded by people he cared about and who cared very much about him.

[Martin Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew of John Hope Franklin by reputation, although I'd never read anything by him, and, as far as I can tell, this memoir is like the man himself: dignified, clear-eyed, personable, and written with a kind of straight-backed, no-nonsense and pellucid prose that I didn't think possible in this day and age. It's a by-the-book and unflashy chronology of the extraordinary life of a dedicated teacher, researcher, and pioneer of African American history (as an African American, as a pedagogue, and in breaking down the barriers to black scholars in teaching at non-HBCUs.

As a writer and publisher myself, I kept scratching my head in wonder at why this book was so compelling when it is so short of literary fireworks, so modest in its approach, and is in essence a detailed examination of the balance between scholarship and research and politics and the public citizen. My conclusion? Franklin's force of character, his discipline, and his laser-like focus on asserting the right that he himself, his subject, his race, and his scholarship should be heard, respected, and appropriately rewarded are well-served by a beautifully understated and elegant prose style. To write so well is a remarkable feat for anyone at any age, let alone a man who apparently didn't keep notes about his life until later on, and who wrote this book when he was almost ninety! Sometimes, the intradisciplinary squabbles over book reviews reveal a slight peevishness on Franklin's part, but his collegiality, generosity, and his curiosity shine through.

Franklin, by his own confession, was not a major force in the civil rights movement (although he was instrumental in providing historical context for Thurgood Marshall as he argued Brown vs. Board of Education before the Supreme Court). Franklin is so willing to believe the best of humanity that the casual and systemic racism experienced by him and his family strikes home the more forcibly. Franklin is more strident regarding the failure of America to live up to its ideals in the Epilogue—remarking that America's ongoing attitude toward black men (in particular) is best calculated not by the number of black millionaires there are but the number of men in prison—than in the early part of the book. But he is also clear that he has seen great progress since his childhood.

All told, I would heartily recommend this book as a history of American scholarship, a history of race, and a very fine example of how to write.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is the function of the historian to keep before the people...the different lines of action they have taken, the several, often complicated reasons for such action...and to point to the defects and deficiencies when they exist."

John Hope Franklin is the consummate historian. His influence on the field, and the historical events that he lived through, make for a fascinating book.

He comes across very much as a classic model of a history professor, going at a stately, dignified pace in which a great deal of information is provided. That makes this not a quick read, but the information is valuable, and his voice is a pleasant one. For all of the many interesting experiences he has had, and recounts, one thing that keeps coming through clearly is how he has valued the people that he has encountered, and I appreciate his appreciation of them.

As a history major myself, I admire his passion for it, and also his understanding of how it can apply. I did not know there was a group of historians helping on Brown v The Board of Education, but it makes perfect sense. There is good information here on government, civil rights, how academia functions, and many other topics. Really worth the time.

[Dillon Hargrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first time I finished a book literally left in tears. I was fortunate to listen to the audiobook version recorded by Franklin in 2005 at the age of 90. His dry, academic, and scholarly reading was seasoned by a range of subtle emotion that could only be delivered by the author. In the twilight of his life, Franklin remained remarkably sharp and true to his objective view of the 20th century as he experienced it.

The emotions affected me deeply. I felt angry that, although I live within miles of where Franklin grew up, I never learned the details of his life until now. I felt proud that a fellow Tulsan had achieved such unprecedented success. Ultimately, I was left feeling equal amounts of hope and despair in regards to the current state of race in America.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this book last year, took me a bit of time to finish it. This is a great book for those interested in history, race, or biography. John Hope Franklin is a historian in his 90's who has led an amazing life. His tremendous academic and service-oriented output are astounding. It does get a bit slow at times, but was worth the work.

[Hillery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent autobiography by one of the key American historians of the 20th century. As one of the first African Americans to receive a PhD from Harvard (in the 1930s), he led quite an interesting life--traveling and teaching all over the world.

[Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was an amazing historian and scholar.

[Shlomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great Black-american who strived through his work and intellectual rigour to bring attention to the irrational and inhuman hatred directed to his people and other minorities, including himself. No matter one's achievement in that American society, a Black person is always treated in ways that beggars reason: a blind woman who realised that the kid helping her to cross the street was black and suddenly went into convulsions; the estate agents who refused to sell him a house and the neighbours who treated his family with the disdain white people usually do when they realise the Black person is not what they have been told he is ; the universities that initially would not award him tenure but used for their summer classes; the American Indians who racially attacked him because of they had been misinformed and lack the knowledge that the person in front of them was one of them; and the newspaper editors - new york times, chicago tribune and washington posts who failed to publish his response to untruths they had so willingly published. These newspapers hold themselves as the eyes and minds of what journalism is all about. If i have any critique of JHF, it is the fact that he barely mentioned he contributions of Malcolm X and Angela Davis to the so-called Black dilemma. But there you go.

[Trevor Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franklin's work is an autobiography befitting such an influential and revered scholar and Presidential Medal of Freedom-honored advocate of the greater good. Casual readers will not be bored with the descriptions of his often groundbreaking historical contributions, and historians may find his descriptions of the research, writing, and publication processes very insightful. Readers of all lots are served by his descriptions of personal, often harrowing, encounters with racism throughout his life, as well as his incredible range of travels, committee and organizational assignments, and activism with which he pursued tirelessly. Perhaps the one fault to Franklin's story is the minimal attention to gender and racial intersections, especially noticeable in his epilogue as he mused upon the challenges facing Americans (particularly Black Americans) in the 21st Century, yet his life and work suggest these were not absent from his mind or scholarship. This book offers an indispensable look into race and American history/society by a scholar who simultaneously observed their course, shaped their historiography, and served in numerous efforts to influence their futures.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Hope Franklin, one of America's preeminent historians, tells the story of his life in this straight-forward autobiography. The writing won't inspire many plaudits, but he's clear and reflective in his treatment of both the personal and global events that span this nine-decade story. I think this book has two major strengths - the first is the way he personalizes the changes (and continuities) in race in America, highlighting not only the ways that racial slights were a persistent factor throughout his accomplished career, but also the ways he broke, and witnessed the breaking of, racial barriers. The second value of this book is the way that Franklin treats the profession of historian. Reading his reflections on the role of the historian in public discourse and public policy makes me want to read some of his collected essays, such as The Historian and Public Policy and Race and History.

[Micebyliz]

I'm sorry to say that this book was not what i thought it would be considering the stature of the author. i did find his early life interesting but so much of the narrative was stuck in another time. it seemed to me that it should have been updated to reflect more progressive language. It also seemed like instead of being a Mirror to America, it was more of a story of his life and achievements, which went on and on. I cannot believe that he was actually surprised to find out that there was anti-semitism. Was he not paying attention?
One other thing that really bothered me was that so many short stories were never finished so you don't know what happened. Important events that he wanted to tell about and then leaves you with no ending or no explanation.
Then the engagement. Who doesn't go together to pick out rings? What's with that? Presumptuous.
Just a too self-centered book.

[Elizabeth Stolar · Rating 4 out of 5]

5/7. I liked this book a lot, as Dr. Franklin had an incredible life. At times it felt like he was responding to every slight or criticism he'd received over the years, but I can't say I blame him -- he's totally justified in doing so. This was a solid autobiography.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone interested in race-relations in America.

And EVERYONE in America must be interested in race-relations.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful memoir of a great American historian. There are so many memorable quotes, such as “Historical ignorance abets racial ignorance.” Truly a remarkable man.

[Robert Tiplady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Inspiring life.

[David Tyoember · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring life journey.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely autobiography by a truly amazing historian (and all-around human!). Inspiring in so many ways. I'm amazed at Franklin's memory here--he does say that he had help with the young years.

[Letitia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say This was an amazing story.I don't use the word amazing often But this was truly Powerful.I knew some about John hope Franklin but this really made this larger than life Historian real for me.The beginning was a little slow but stick with it and look at the over arching impact that this story in has had on our society.

[Bob Schmitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a powerful book. I listen to the author, age 90, read this book. I knew that he lived in Durham, NC, my home, and thought that he was an African American Studies person of some sort but I did not know that he....graduated with a PhD from Harvard in history, helped Thurgood Marshall with the historical background for Brown v Board of Education, wrote the standard text on African American Hx "From Slavery to Freedom," which I will now have to read, was the first PhD at the Shaw University, was the first black full professor at a traditionally white college, Brooklyn College, was the Chairman of the Department of History at University of Chicago by unanimous request of the faculty, that he met with Desmond Tutu in a project in SA. That he taught and lectured all over the world....etc.

He is an eloquent writer and clear thinker.

He describes the historical injustices done to blacks from slave days to present and their outcomes, his efforts to achieve at the highest level and the slights and injustices done to him.

The book has interesting tidbits in it. When he comes to NC to teach at Shaw he goes to the State library in Raleigh to do research. The librarian has no problem with that but shows him to a separate room and gives him a key to the stacks as he can not sit with the white people and cannot ask a white employee to get him a book. This lasted 2 weeks until the white researchers claimed discrimination and demanded keys. He was then offered the services of the white employees but had to keep to his own private room.

When he went to enlist in the Navy in WWII they asked him what he could do. He said he could type and take short hand and that he had a PhD from Harvard. The recruiter was dumbfounded and the Navy did not have a place for him.

[Don Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best-written books I have read in the past 3 decades, of any genre. Franklin's prose is impeccable and impressive. For this alone the book would be a rare treat. But he also brings you, gently compels you to read the next sentence, next paragraph, next chapter. This rapidly becomes a book you do not want to put down, nor is it a book that leaves you. I am still listening to this extraordinary man a week after having finished, as though I had been in his presence and have no wish to leave.

Franklin's story covering 90 years of his life is an astonishing, remarkable one. Born in a poor family in Oklahoma, his father a lawyer and his mother a school teacher, he suffered the indignities of racism throughout his life. As a young man he received a PhD from Harvard, went on to help Thurgood Marshall in the Supreme Court case of Brown vs the Board of Education. At 80 yrs old he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, yet on that very day, at the Cosmos Club in New York, a white woman called out to him and presented her coat check, ordering him to bring her coat. This despite the fact that all of the clubs attendants were in uniform. One example amongst many which he provides.

My own view is that this book should be read by every high school student in America, and by many outside of America. It is educational, enlightening, chastising, and encouraging somehow throughout. The stories of remarkable people are good for us all to know, and this was one of the truly great men of the USA of the past 100 years.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Seth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first three quarters of Dr. Franklin's monograph is great. After chronicling his work in Civil Rights and his rise in academia he fell into political punditry in the remaining chapters. Franklin believes that the race war in America is still alive and well because of de jure segregation. It seems that his only answer is more government enforcement of laws such as affirmative action. While critical of Reagan, Judge Bork and Clarence Thomas, he lets Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson and black bureaucrats in general escape without judgment. It is obvious in the waning chapters that he is still bitter over his participation in the Clinton's administration's Initiative on Race. At several points he lets his admiration of Clinton get in the way of what could have been a better statement of how Clinton dropped the ball on this initiative during the Lewinsky scandal. Most of the monograph is an excellent look at a black historian, marred by the racism of his peers, rise to intellectual greatness despite outstanding hardships. His friendships with C. Vann Woodward, Daniel Boorstin and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., are indicative of the kind of intellectual behemoths that he kept company with during his career. Overall Dr. Franklin does a wonderful job of tracing the path of Southern historiography since the 1930s. Indeed he has written most of it.

[Rusty Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there were 6 stars I'd give this all six. It is on the very short list of best books I've ever read. I'll grant that the reason could be more with the place I am in life's path but it was the perfect book to me. Being the autobiography of a man who, as far as I am concerned, achieved excellence, it kept me involved from cover to cover.

John Hope Franklin discusses his challenges as a black man edging one step at a time into the world of scholastic excellence, a world with white males at the gates fighting feverishly to keep him out only because of the color of his skin. Dr Franklin transcended these obstacles with such grace and determination. He was knocked back many times but called on his intellect, his being a scholar of the highest degree, and his knowledge as a historian to demonstrate that he would bring far more to their table than anyone else.

Ok. Perhaps I am overstating it a little but viewing through the lens of adversity that the white world has placed on the black world, I believe Franklins achievement were nothing short of remarkable. That those achievements were presented in his words made them so much more meaningful.

[Drick · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Hope Franklin, the author of From Slavery to Freedom, and several other books on African American history, wrote this autobiography at the age of 90 in 2005 and died last March (2009) at the age of 94. Franklin's life as a person and a scholar covered some of the most critical events of the civil rights movement in the 20th century. He was there to live them and write about them. Franklin devoted his life to telling the true story of the African American experience in America, while at the same time being a preeminent scholar in his field. This book was inspiring on so many levels. His life begins in Oklahoma, then Fisk University in Nashville, where he was inspired by a white history teacher who helped pay hi9s way to a PhD at Harvard. He ended up at some of the top colleges in the country, while traveling the world. In his 80's he chaired Pres. Clinton Dialogue on Race. A truly amazing man, with an incredible story

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the privilege of hearing Frankly speak once, when he was on a book tour for this book. I'm so glad I finally found the time to read it. He had a remarkable career that is a true reminder of why history and historians matter. There were things I knew, but many things I didn't (he did research for Thurgood Marshall to use in Brown v. Board!). He tells his story in a completely straight forwrad, matter-of-fact way, even though my jaw would drop at some of the names he dropped. Truly one of the greats in American history, and well worth the read for anyone interested in 20th century history. He knew all the players, protested with many of them, and did all he could for civil rights.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give this 3 1/2 stars. Franklin led an amazing life and had an amazing mind. His reflections on the problems posed by race in America are thought-provoking. The first 1/2 of the book is the most interesting, as Franklin speaks of his childhood and struggle for equal education and employment for his talents. The second half of the book drags, however, at times becoming little more than a list of places he taught or visited or gave speeches. I would recommend this book, even if you only read the first half and skim the rest.

[Zakiyyah Abdul-raheem]

I learned from this book the Struggle still continues for African Americans' place in History. After World War II the Protest of African Americans begin to take hold with the indictment made by President Truman's 1947 Committee on Civil Rights. A decade after Truman Committee, Congress created the Commission on Civil Rights which followed in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act and, in the following year, by the Voting Rights Act. This book is a must Read for anyone, It's tells of John Hope Franklin life and Struggle while making History himself.