A teen fiction novel penned and self-published by Durham Public School students aims to educate their peers about the impact historian John Hope Franklin had on erasing discrimination in academics.
“Running for Hope” weaves illustrated scenes from the renowned historian’s life with the story of a 15-year-old Durham boy who gets into trouble and recovers by connecting with Franklin, who for the last three decades of his life he served as the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History. He died in 2009.
Thirty Durham Public Schools students who are participants in the John Hope Franklin Young Scholars Program produced the book. It is available at Regulator Bookstore on Ninth Street in Durham, the Gothic Bookshop on Duke’s campus and on Amazon.com.
“People thought we were crazy to attempt to write a book with 30 young teens,” said David Stein, the director of the JHF Young Scholars Program. “They stayed with it all the way through from plot development, sorting through racial identity questions with the characters and writing/rewriting/writing for 18 months.
"We immersed ourselves in the lives of both John Hope Franklin and of young teens in Durham through extensive fieldwork. What they have achieved is both professional and engaging.” Zabria Justice, a JHF Young Scholar, said she enjoyed the opportunity to write the book.
“When we first discussed the idea of writing a novel, it was exciting and scary all at the same time,” she said. “Exciting because we thought it would be fun to be student authors; and scary because we all knew it would be time consuming and a lot of hard work. Now that the book is complete and published, we feel accomplished and hope that our work honors the memory and legacy of John Hope Franklin.”
The John Hope Franklin Young Scholars.
The John Hope Franklin Young Scholars Program, initiated in 2009, is a component of Duke’s Center for African and African-American Research. The program introduces teens --mostly under-represented minorities -- to university research, providing first-hand experience exploring history, paving their path toward college. Each year another focus is chosen. One previous program centered on Stagville Plantation in Durham.
Franklin's "From Slavery to Freedom," transformed the literature of American history, selling more than 3 million copies. Through that work, and multiple additional volumes, Franklin has been widely credited with helping to create the field of African-American history.
He was perhaps best known for his work as chairman of Clinton’s 1997 national advisory board on race.
For the coming year Duke will host a number of events during that pay tribute to Franklin, who would have turned 100 this past January.