On Thursday, April 20, 2006, Cincinnati Museum Center will pay tribute to Dr. John Hope Franklin as the Distinguished Historian for 2006. The pre-eminent American historian, Dr. Franklin was born in Oklahoma in 1915. He graduated from Fisk University in 1935 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1941.

He has taught at North Carolina College, Howard University, Brooklyn College, the University of Chicago and Duke University where he is the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History. In 1955 he was the first African American to chair a history department when he was appointed to that position at Brooklyn College.

The author and editor of 17 books, Franklin most recently completed his autobiography, Mirror to America, published by Farrar Straus Giroux in late 2005. His 1947 book, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, has sold more than 3.5 million copies and has been translated into Indian, Japanese, German, French, Portuguese and Chinese.

For his scholarship and service, Franklin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, in 1995. In 1997 President Bill Clinton appointed Franklin to chair the President’s Initiative on Race. Dr. Franklin has received honorary degrees from more than 130 colleges and universities and countless awards and prizes. In 1997 PBS produced a documentary on him, First Person Singular: John Hope Franklin.

Dr. Franklin wrote a biography of George Washington Williams in 1985 and did much of his research in Cincinnati, including the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. He has a fondness for Cincinnati, which is why we were able to schedule this appearance.

The evening will begin with a reception and dinner from 5:30 to 7:30. The lecture will take place at 7:30, followed by book sales and signing. The cost for the reception, dinner and lecture is $60 with the lecture only at $15. Reservations must be made for either. For reservations, please call 513-287-7021. The event will take place at Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203.

Johnson Investment Counsel sponsors the Distinguished Historian lecture.