Presidential Medal of Freedom winner and historian John Hope Franklin, whose work defined the field of African-American history, died from congestive heart failure Wednesday at Duke University hospital. He was 94.
Franklin played a key role in pivotal civil rights events of the 20th century. He was the author of the seminal 1947 book, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans.
Franklin was the first African-American to chair a history department at a majority white institution and the first to preside over major historical associations — all the while enduring the racism of his day.
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