GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	1 

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1241

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Sponsors: Representatives Michaux; Adams, Kinney, and Boyd-McIntyre.

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Referred to:  Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House.

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July 16, 1997

A JOINT RESOLUTION INVITING DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN TO ADDRESS A JOINT SESSION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE AND INVITING GOVERNOR JAMES B. HUNT, JR.
Whereas, John Hope Franklin is a world renowned historian, researcher, author, and speaker and has particularly distinguished himself in African-American history and race relations; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin grew up in segregated Rentiesville, Oklahoma, and then in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduated from Fisk University in 1935 and earned his masters degree from Harvard University in 1936 and doctorate in 1941; he became a North Carolinian in 1943; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin has taught at Fisk University, St. Augustine's College, North Carolina College, Howard University, and Duke University and has served as chairman of the history departments at Brooklyn College and the University of Chicago; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin was instrumental in numerous major historical events of the United States, including the fact that he conducted historical research for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall who wrote the legal brief in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education concerning public school desegregation; and
Whereas, for more than 50 years, John Hope Franklin has chronicled the history of the South and the roles of African-Americans in the nation's development; and
Whereas, in 1947 John Hope Franklin's definitive text on the African-American experience, From Slavery to Freedom:  A History of Negro Americans, was published, and is now in its seventh edition and has been translated into French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin has received numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on September 29, 1995, and has been awarded more than 105 honorary degrees from colleges and universities; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin has been appointed by President William J. Clinton as chairman of a panel that will lead his national initiative on improving race relations; and
Whereas, John Hope Franklin is a resident of Durham where he tends his orchid collection in his backyard greenhouse and has developed a new variety of orchid; Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
Section 1.  Dr. John Hope Franklin is invited to address a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the Hall of the House of Representatives at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 22, 1997.
Section 2.  The Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor, is invited to the joint session.
Section 3.  The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to Dr. John Hope Franklin and the Governor of the State of North Carolina.
Section 4.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.