Young Historians Follow in John Hope Franklin’s Tradition

Franklin Scholars program offer Durham students a rare opportunity at hands-on historical research

Durham middle school students become historian adventurers during the John Hope Franklin Young Scholars one-week immersion program, sponsored by Duke Community Affairs and the Provost’s Office. During a session in Rubenstein Library, DCA’s David Stein, senior education partnership coordinator, discusses items from the archives with the students. Th
Durham middle school students become historian adventurers during the John Hope Franklin
Young Scholars one-week immersion program, sponsored by Duke Community Affairs (DCA) and the
Provost’s Office. During a session in Rubenstein Library, DCA’s David Stein, senior education
partnership coordinator, discusses items from the archives with the students. Th

On a humid, late Monday June morning, more than a dozen middle schoolers sat in a bright, sun-filled room on the second floor of Duke University’s Rubenstein Library.

It was the first day of a year-long John Hope Franklin Young Scholars program. Started in 2010 by David Stein, a senior education partnership coordinator with Duke Community Affairs, the program honors the legacy of John Hope Franklin, the late celebrated Duke scholar, author and activist who was one of America’s greatest historians.

For most Franklin Scholars, it’s the first experience of historical study and a rare opportunity for young students interested in history to do hands-on study. Stein said when he started the program, “elementary schools had virtually stopped teaching history because it was not a tested subject at the end of grade tests,” Stein said.

“We’re doing history not covered in schools.”

Some of the week was focused on the mid-20th century, a time of significant change in Durham and America.

“They probably spend just one class period studying the 1950s in middle schools,” Stein said. “And when asked about a conflict in the 1950s where more than 35,000 American soldiers died, most would probably not be able to name the Korean War.”

After an introduction to Franklin’s scholarly legacy, the youngsters dove into the American labor movement and the music of legendary folk singer Pete Seeger. Prior to arriving on campus they were asked to read the 2016 illustrated biography, “Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger,” by Anita Silvey.

Now in its 15th year, the year-long program is funded through the Duke Office of the Provost and kicks off with a summer immersion program “to get them up and running,” Stein said, followed by their return to campus the second Saturday of each month. The group takes at least two research trips through the year.

The program – in partnership with Durham Public Schools (DPS) – selects rising sixth graders from throughout DPS. The students stay in the program for three years.

Luna Gomez, 11, left, and Kimani Pratt, 10, perform a song about Pete Seeger, singer/songwriter and social activist, that was written using research earlier that week in Rubenstein Library.
Luna Gomez, 11, left, and Kimani Pratt, 10, perform a song about Pete Seeger, singer/songwriter and social activist, that was written using research earlier that week in
Rubenstein Library.
Ethan Meek, 12, looks at a scrapbook created by George “Jelly” Leftwich, Duke’s first director of Instrumental Music who composed the fight song “The Blue and White” and led Duke’s musical programs from 1926 to 1933.
Ethan Meek, 12, looks at a scrapbook created by George “Jelly” Leftwich, Duke’s first director of Instrumental Music who composed the fight song “The Blue and White” and led Duke’s musical programs from 1926 to
1933.

There’s a standing visit to Celebrity Dairy goat farm, Stein said, “where the scholars alternate between playing with baby goats and working on our projects.”

Gabby Camacho, an 11-year-old who will enter the sixth grade at Githens Middle School in the fall, said the Franklin Scholars program encourages historical research and learning, largely owing to the program being “a little more flexible with the open flow of talking.

“We are able to have conversations that make studying fun,” Gabby added.

Meanwhile, Kimani Lee Pratt, a 10-year-old student who just completed Spring Valley Elementary and Luna Gomez, an 11-year-old from Holt Elementary, became fast friends right before lunch on Monday.

The 2025 John Hope Franklin Scholars with instructors.
The 2025 John Hope Franklin Scholars with instructors.

Kimani, within earshot of Luna, explained that in addition to reading the Seeger biography, she had also read the recommended 464-page novel, “On The Come Up,” by Angie Thomas about 16-year-old Bri, who wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Turns out Luna read the same book. They are now inseparable.

“We have a lot in common,” Kimani later told her mom, Crystal Pratt.

Although they haven’t gone on a trip yet, they’re already loving their experience. For Kimani, making new friends and having an enjoyable time while learning new things has been a highlight. 

Luna appreciates the wide variety of activities and the new experiences she’s gaining while in the program. Both girls are hoping the young scholars’ first field trip will be to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C. They’re excited to learn about the area’s rich history and the hardships railroad workers endured. 

The visit to the train museum ties in the scholars’ study of the hundreds of deaths of Black convict laborers working on the Swannanoa railroad tunnel in the 1880s, a tragedy commemorated in an old song, recently made popular again by Rhiannon Giddens.

The scholars will also visit Salisbury, site of the little-known bread riots during the Civil War.

The Franklin Young Scholars are highly motivated, intellectually curious and keenly aware of how adult decisions affect their lives.

Ani Karagianis, centennial archivist, left, discusses articles on Mary Lou Williams, Duke’s “first lady of jazz,” with Riley Cole- Pratt, 12, and Gabby Camacho, 11. The students engaged with scrapbooks and manuscripts in the Rubenstein Library archives and created songs about Reconstruction-era figures based on the research and then some AI.
Ani Karagianis, Duke centennial archivist, left, discusses articles on Mary Lou Williams, Duke’s “first lady of jazz,” with Riley Cole-Pratt, 12, and Gabby Camacho, 11. The students engaged with scrapbooks and manuscripts in the Rubenstein Library archives and created songs about Reconstruction-era figures based on
the research, and then some AI.

Perpetually animated, unfailingly optimistic, Stein’s superpower is his ability to see life through the eyes of a child.

In his role as senior education partnership coordinator, Stein oversees several initiatives that generate excitement for learning and research. He runs the university’s Duke EdTech Fellows Program with students on campus to “develop AI, augmented reality and other projects with and for the public schools.” He also directs Schools Days for first generation Durham 8th graders with the goal of encouraging them to attend college.

“Duke is full of exceptional resources to get students engaged,” Stein said.

Like his namesake program, John Hope Franklin spent a career engaging young minds in research on little-known moments of history. In doing so, Franklin ensured that Duke and other higher education institutions contributed to their communities and helped preserve their histories.

“We are trying to follow in John Hope Franklin's footsteps by specializing in hidden history,” Stein said.

The summer session ended with the students exploring one such hidden history, a very contentious moment: the story of Booker T. Spicely, a Black army soldier who in 1944 was fatally shot by a Durham bus driver not far from Duke’s East Campus when Spicely refused to immediately move to the back of the bus.

Local historian John Schelp presented information about Spicely then observed and applauded as the students collaborated to create a song relating the history. (Listen to the song on Suno.)

The song was the students’ way of using scholarship to give back to the community. The community – in this case Schelp and a group of local leaders who are working to tell Spicely’s story – came back with praise.

“What the students did was amazing and instructive!” said Irving Joyner, a law professor at N.C. Central University.