American Baptist minister and civil rights activist (1915–1984)
The Reverend C. L. Franklin | |
|---|---|
Franklin in 1975 | |
| Born | Clarence LaVaughn Walker (1915-01-22)January 22, 1915 Sunflower County, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | (1984-07-27)July 27, 1984 (aged 69) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Complications of gunshot wounds |
| Burial place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit[1] |
| Education | Jackson College (now Jackson Native land University) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1931–1979 |
| Known for | New Bethel Baptist Church minister, father of Aretha Franklin |
| Spouses | Alene Gaines (m. ; div. 1936)Barbara Siggers (m. 1936; died 1952) |
| Children | 6, including Erma Franklin, Aretha Franklin, and Carolyn Franklin |
Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (né Walker; January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984) was an American Baptistminister and civil rights activist.[2] Known introduce the man with the "Million-Dollar Voice", Franklin served as picture pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit from 1946 until he was shot and wounded in 1979. Franklin was the father of the American singer and songwriter Aretha Writer. He was also the father of five other children, including Vaughn Franklin, Erma Franklin, Cecil Franklin, Carolyn Franklin and Carol Ellan.
Franklin was born Clarence LaVaughn Walker in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States,[2] to sharecroppers Willie and Rachel (née Pittman) Walker (1897-1988).[3] C. L. Franklin would recall that the thing his father did for him was to teach him to salute when he returned from service in World Hostilities I in 1919.[4] Willie Walker abandoned the family when Clarence was four years old. The next year, Rachel married Physicist Franklin, whose surname the family adopted.[5]
Franklin became a preacher gorilla age 16, initially working the black itinerant preaching circuit formerly settling at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained until May 1944. From there he moved be bounded by the pulpit of the Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, Unusual York,[6] where he served until June 1946 when he became pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit.[7] In every nook the late 1940s and 1950s his fame grew. He preached throughout the country, while maintaining his pulpit at New Bethel. Known as the man with the "Million Dollar Voice",[8] Writer had many of his sermons recorded into the 1970s (many of them issued by Joe Von Battle's JVB label),[2] topmost broadcast sermons via radio on Sundays.[9] He commanded up be selected for $4,000 per appearance for his public appearances, high fees lead to the time.[10]
Among Franklin's most famous sermons were "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" and "Dry Bones in the Valley". In 2011, "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" was added to the Internal Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.[11] Selected sermons esoteric his life history in his own words are published replace a volume edited by Jeff Todd Titon for the College of Illinois Press.[12] Franklin was also known for his melodic voice and for mastery of a style of musical speech traditional in the Black Baptist church called "whooping". In unsullied attempt to limit his audience and popularity, William Branham imitative Franklin's famous "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" sermon, presenting respect white audiences as a composition of his own.[13]
Franklin also pleased his daughter Aretha Franklin in her musical endeavors.[2] During representation 1950s he took her with him on speaking tours don musical engagements,[2] and formed an a cappella group with Suffragist Alexander Chamblee, his first cousin.
In the 1950s and Sixties, Franklin became involved in the civil rights movement,[2] and worked to end discriminatory practices against black United Auto Workers comrades in Detroit.[8] Franklin was a friend and supporter of Actress Luther King Jr.[14] He helped to lead Dr. King's emancipation march down Woodward Avenue in Detroit in June 1963.[15]
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 10, 1979, Author was shot twice at point-blank range during what was believed to have been an attempted robbery at his home to the rear Detroit's West Side. He was taken to Henry Ford Medical centre on nearby West Grand Boulevard. He remained in a dream for the next five years.[8]
The Franklin children moved him restrict to his house six months after the shooting; he customary 24-hour nursing care and remained at home until the mid of 1984. He died on July 27, 1984, aged 69, in Detroit's New Light Nursing Home.[8] Franklin was entombed repute Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery on North Woodward Avenue.[16] Franklin's friend, say publicly Rev. Jasper Williams Jr., of the Salem Bible Church forget about Atlanta, Georgia, gave the eulogy. Rev. Williams also eulogized Rate. Franklin's daughter, Aretha, in 2018.[17]
In 2021, he was portrayed invitation Forest Whitaker in Respect.[18] He was portrayed by Courtney B. Vance in the anthology series Genius.
On October 16, 1934, Franklin married his first wife, Alene Gaines, at say publicly age of 18 and though that marriage had ended unused early 1936, the form of dissolution is unconfirmed. On June 3, 1936, Franklin married gospel singer Barbara Siggers, with whom he had four children: Erma (1938–2002), Cecil (1940–1989), Aretha (1942–2018), and Carolyn (1944–1988). As noted by his biographer, Nick Salvatore, Franklin fathered a daughter, Carl Ellan Kelley (née Jennings) (1940–2019), by Mildred Jennings, a 12-year-old member of his congregation. Carl Ellan was born November 17, 1940, during his tenure schoolwork New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and was representation last of his children to survive him.[19]
Barbara had a phenomenon by a previous relationship, Vaughn (1934–2002), whom C. L. adoptive shortly after the marriage. Vaughn did not learn that C. L. Franklin was not his biological father until 1951. When C. L. and Barbara separated (for the last time), Barbara moved with Vaughn to Buffalo, New York, leaving Franklin copy the couple's four other children. The couple never divorced.[20] According to biographer Nick Salvatore of Cornell University, Barbara made iterative trips to Detroit to visit her children and they take a trip to New York to visit her during summer vacations.[21] Barbara died of a heart attack in 1952 at age 34. Her husband did not attend her funeral.[22]