JOHN FRANKLIN GOT ‘INVOLVED’
John P. Franklin Sr. was the right man at the right time.
In 1971, the longtime educator, who died Thursday, became the first — and, it turned out, only — black person ever elected to the Chattanooga City Commission, paving the way for more diverse representation on area governmental bodies.
Had Franklin been a table-pounding, sign-carrying, epithet-spewing campaigner, he never would have been elected in the dusk of the civil rights era. But as a kind, courtly, measured candidate, he was able to win over whites and blacks and went on to five terms on the body as commissioner of education and health.
In four of those terms, he was Chattanooga’s vice mayor, meaning he had gotten the most votes of all commission candidates, an indication of his popularity. Indeed, he was a city commissioner for longer than any other person in the city’s history, except for one man.
At the end of Franklin’s fifth term, a lawsuit that claimed blacks couldn’t be elected citywide — an assertion to which he was the exception — was successful, and the current city council form of government was ushered in. However, Franklin, after receiving support to run for mayor of the new body, decided to retire.
On the commission, he was quiet but firm, a manner that undoubtedly had served him well as a teacher and principal in the then-Chattanooga City Schools system. His demeanor also unquestionably was a plus in serving — in conjunction with his commission post — as chairman of the city schools system.
Before, during and after his two decades as a commissioner, he also was a small businessman, helping run the family FranklinStrickland Funeral Home business, the city’s first such black service. After his service to the city, he and his son and daughter started John P. Franklin Funeral Home.
Over the years, Franklin was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Award of Merit, Award of Distinction and Boardsmanship Award of Excellence from the Tennessee School Boards Association; Chattanooga Sertoma Club’s Service to Mankind Award, the Pioneer Business League’s Pioneer of the Year award, and the governor’s Outstanding Tennessean Award.
He also had been the first black president of the Tennessee Municipal League, a member of the advisory board of the National League of Cities and a member of the governor-appointed Martin Luther King Jr. Tennessee Holiday Commission.
Franklin, in a 1974 address before the start of fall classes, demonstrated the importance of the wider public’s role in education, a battle still being fought today.
“Education is everybody’s business,” he said. “Parents, teachers, clergy, business, professional … all must be involved if the in-school experiences are to become entrenched in the subconscious attitudes, behavior patterns and everyday skills for living.”
Chattanooga can truly be thankful for Franklin’s role in education but also in the wider community.