John Hope Franklin, 1915-2009

New York Times: John Hope Franklin dead at 94

John Hope Franklin, considered the greatest historian of black America, was a scholar of African-American history who deeply influenced thinking about slavery and Reconstruction while helping to further the civil rights struggle.

“I will always think of John Hope as the historian of the South who grasped the complexity of Southern public life as shaped by the horror of personal slavery,” said Nell Irvin Painter, the Princeton University historian. “Franklin was the first great American historian to reckon the price owed in violence, autocracy and militarism.”

His pivotal book, “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans,” first published in 1947, is considered one of the definitive historical surveys of the American black experience.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Nonpartisan judicial elections bill defeated

ARKANSAS: Senate again rejects bill that would allow guns in churches

FLORIDA: Program launched by state to encourage in-state shopping

GEORGIA: Senate approves extra fine for 'super speeders'

KENTUCKY: New law passed on payday lending

LOUISIANA: A look at Gov. Jindal and the Louisiana Mega-Project Fund

MISSISSIPPI: House and Senate fail to agree on tobacco tax hike before deadline

NORTH CAROLINA: State tops the nation in losing health coverage

SOUTH CAROLINA: Appeal over nuclear reactors denied by South Carolina regulators

TENNESSEE: House panel approves guns in local parks

VIRGINIA: State may drop Real ID program due to privacy concerns

In Opinion: Tennessee: Bill could stack deck for future elections
"Last November's election galvanized and energized millions of new voters nationwide. Tennessee joined the bandwagon of civic awareness with a record turnout at the polls. That has not deterred some individuals, however, from trying to make it harder to cast a vote."

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