October 18, 2004
Press contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940
Public contact: Robert Saladini (202) 707-2692
Historian John Hope Franklin and Judge Robert
L. Carter Discuss Brown v. Board of Education on
Nov. 9 at Library of Congress
In the last of a series of events at the
Library of Congress commemorating the 50th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education
U.S. Supreme Court decision, historian John Hope
Franklin joins Judge Robert L. Carter in a
discussion of the impact that the decision had
on their lives professionally as well as
personally. The discussion will be held at noon
on Tuesday, Nov. 9, in the Members Room (LJ 162)
of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First
Street S.E., Washington, D.C.
The event, which is sponsored by the
Library's John W. Kluge Center, is free and open
to the public and no reservations are
required.
Franklin, considered to be the premier
historian of the African-American experience in
the United States, is one of the most celebrated
scholars of our time. His major work, "From
Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro
Americans," was first published in 1947 and is
now in its eighth edition; it has never been out
of print.
Franklin worked with Thurgood Marshall's
NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1953 to help
document the history of the 14th Amendment and
its import for public school accommodations.
Franklin has received numerous awards and honors
for his scholarship and service, and in 1995
President Clinton honored him with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's
highest civilian honor.
The Brown v. Board of Education decision was
a crowning achievement in Robert L Carter's
illustrious career with the NAACP. From 1944
through 1968, he played a leading role in
crafting and litigating the major cases of the
civil rights era and was particularly
influential in his efforts to conceptualize
legal strategy and supervise the preparation and
filing of briefs for the NAACP's attack on
segregation.
"Bob Carter was the keel and Thurgood was the
wind," a colleague of his once commented in
reference to his work with Marshall. Since 1972
Carter has served as a federal district judge
for the southern district of New York. His
memoirs, "A Matter of Law," will be published by
New Press in early 2005.
Through a generous endowment from John W.
Kluge, the Library of Congress established the
Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the
world's best thinkers to distill wisdom from the
Library's rich resources and to stimulate and
energize interaction with policymakers in
Washington. For more information about any of
the fellowships, grants and programs offered by
the center, contact the Office of Scholarly
Programs, Library of Congress, 101 Independence
Avenue S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4860;
telephone (202) 707-3302, fax (202) 707-3595, or
visit the Web at www.loc.gov/kluge/.
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PR 04-181
10/18/04
ISSN 0731-3527