If the house is to be set in order, one cannot begin with the present; he must begin with the past.

Washington High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. Later life
In 2005 at the age of 90 Franklin publiJohn Hope Franklind and lectured on his new autobiography Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin. During his visit to Tulsa to accept the award Franklin made several appearances to speak about his childhood experiences with racial segregation as well as his father's experiences as a lawyer in the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa race riot.

Franklin is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom first publiJohn Hope Franklind in 1947 and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold.