John Hope Franklin, front and center. 1941.

Source: John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin is the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, and for seven years was Professor of Legal History in the Law School at Duke University. He is a native of Oklahoma and a graduate of Fisk University. He received the A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in history from . . .

Trying to volunteer to help fight, John Hope Franklin learned he wasn't needed.

Signing up for sugar and food rationing in Taos, New Mexico. February 1943.

Source: Library of Congress (LC-USW3-019115-C)

Color made a difference at the recruiting office and to the general population, but things were changing. On Tuesday morning, May 25, 1943, tensions explode at the Alabama Dry Dock shipyard.