Santa Fe New Mexican

Fans mourn Aretha Franklin at public viewing

- By Jeff Karoub

DETROIT — The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life was captured at her viewing on Tuesday, with the late Queen of Soul in a gold-plated casket dressed completely in red, including high-heeled pumps, proving, as one person put it, that she was a “diva to the end.”

As Franklin’s powerful vocals from classic gospel performanc­es were piped through the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer looked as if she were preparing for one more performanc­e. She wore earrings, red lipstick and red nail polish, and her hair was cut short. Her dress — with its ornamental elements and sheer netting fabric — was reminiscen­t of an outfit she would wear onstage and “something she would have selected for herself,” her niece, Sabrina Owens, told the Associated Press.

Mourners poured into the museum to pay their final respects to Franklin, who died Aug. 16 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. The two-day viewing was part of a week of commemorat­ions for the legend, who will be laid to rest Friday.

The Wright Museum is a cultural landmark in Detroit, where Franklin grew up and spent most of her life. Museum board member Kelly Major Green said the goal was to create a dignified and respectful environmen­t akin to a church, the place where Franklin got her start.

“What we wanted to do is be reflective of the queen,” Green said. “It’s beautiful. She’s beautiful.”

Green said Franklin’s attire and pose communicat­ed both power and comfort, as she did in life. The shoes, in particular, show “The Queen of Soul is diva to the end,” Green said.

Fans strolled by the casket, some in tears; one woman blew a kiss to Franklin, who was surrounded by massive arrangemen­ts of roses of different hues.

Owens said she began planning for this week’s festivitie­s earlier this year.

“After all she gave to the world, I felt we needed to give her an appropriat­e send-off that would match her legacy,” she said. “She loved the city of Detroit and the city of Detroit loved her.”

Franklin was dressed in red symbolic of her membership in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

The service organizati­on of predominan­tly black women planned a private ceremony Tuesday night in the museum in honor of Franklin.

The setting for the viewings could not be more fitting, according to Paula Marie Seniors, an associate professor of Africana studies at Virginia Tech.

“I think it’s incredibly significan­t — she is being honored almost like a queen at one of the most important black museums in the United States,” said Seniors. The Queen of Soul, Seniors said, was “a singer of the universe.” She added that Franklin also was “so unapologet­ically black — she was so proud of being a black woman.”

Owens said the museum has held services for many dignitarie­s, most famously Rosa Parks: “It was important that Aretha take her place next to them and lie in state there.”

 ?? PAUL SANCYA/ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Aretha Franklin lies in her casket Tuesday at Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History during a public visitation in Detroit. Franklin died Aug. 16 at the age of 76.
PAUL SANCYA/ASSOCIATED PRESS Aretha Franklin lies in her casket Tuesday at Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History during a public visitation in Detroit. Franklin died Aug. 16 at the age of 76.

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