Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Jack T. Franklin - Photographer

Jack T Franklin, an African American photographer from Philadelphia who had a career that spanned 60 years and his pictures a testimony of African Americans, American life, civil rights, music, entertainment and Philadelphia.
He captured the history of African Americans in black and white reality, joy, hardship, celebration and life. His legacy includes over 400,000 photographs that include such historic events as the March on Washington and the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama.
Historic, iconic and famous people such as Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Josephine Baker, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr, James Baldwin, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Jame Brown and numerous others are included in his collection.
He contributed to Philadelphia newspapers, The Inquirer, The Bulletin, The Philadelphia Tribune, The Daily News and the iconic duo Ebony and Jet magazines. and his work was also exhibited and featured at the Smithsonian Institute.
He died recently at the age of 87 on September 20th 2009 and his collection of photography has been housed at the African American Museum since 2006.

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