Franklin Faced Racism and Rejection As Auburn’s First Black Student
On January 4, 1964, Harold A. Franklin integrated Auburn University as the first Black student to attend the college. Franklin was a 31-year-old married veteran who had recently graduated from Alabama State College.
Despite threats from Governor George Wallace to block his enrollment, Franklin persevered to register for graduate courses in history.
However, Franklin faced immense racism and discrimination during his time at Auburn. He lived isolated in a dorm wing alone and classmates refused to sit next to him. Franklin wanted to write his thesis on the civil rights movement but faculty urged him not to due to the “controversial” topic.
“Finally I said, ‘Hell, what you’re telling me is I won’t get a degree from Auburn,’” Franklin recalled in a 2019 interview. After leaving in 1965 without his degree, he went on to a successful 27-year career teaching history at various colleges.
Auburn Amends Past Wrongs By Finally Awarding Franklin His Degree
In 2001, Auburn granted Franklin an honorary doctorate degree. However, the racism that prevented him from earning his original master’s degree went unaddressed for decades.
That changed in 2020 after Auburn faculty learned that Franklin still had the unpublished thesis he wrote over 50 years prior. Faculty reviewed it and determined he had completed all necessary degree requirements in 1969.
On February 19, 2020, at age 87, Franklin successfully defended his master’s thesis to committee members. “It’s shameful that it had to take this long,” said Professor Keith Hebert, Franklin’s thesis advisor. Attached to his approval was a formal apology from the university.
Due to the pandemic, Franklin received his diploma by mail in June 2020 and walked at a commencement ceremony in December, finally earning the degree he was denied in the 1960s. Franklin passed away in September 2021 at age 88.
Franklin’s Courage Paved the Way for Future Black Auburn Students
Harold Franklin’s brave stand to integrate Auburn opened doors for generations of African American students to follow in his footsteps. Because of his perseverance through immense adversity, over 10,000 Black students have now graduated from the university.
“He proved to himself that whatever he set his mind to, he could achieve,” said Franklin’s nephew, Melvin Bolton. In November 2021, Auburn dedicated an expanded memorial commemorating his cultural impact, ensuring Franklin’s legacy will inspire students for years to come.
Though it took over 50 years, Auburn University finally made amends to its first Black student by awarding Franklin the master’s degree he courageously earned in 1964. It was a bittersweet triumph for a civil rights pioneer who changed Auburn forever.
