C. L. Franklin

Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (often billed as Bishop C. L. Franklin) (January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984), was an American Baptist minister, a civil rights activist, and father of the legendary soul and gospel singer Aretha Franklin.

Background

He was born Clarence LaVaughn Walker in Sunflower County, Mississippi, to sharecroppers Willie Walker and Rachel Walker née Pittman.^[1] C.L. would recall that the only thing his father did for him was to teach him to salute when he returned from service in World War I in 1919.^[2] Willie Walker abandoned the family shortly thereafter (Clarence was only four years old), and the next year Rachel married Henry Franklin, whose surname the family adopted.

At age 16, he became a preacher, initially working the Black itinerant preaching circuit, before settling at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained until May 1944. From there he moved to the pulpit of the Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York,^[3] where he served until June 1946 when he became pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan.

Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s his fame grew, and he preached throughout the country while maintaining his pulpit at New Bethel. Known as the man with the "Million Dollar Voice", Franklin was one of the first ministers to place his sermons on records (which continued into the 1970s), and also to broadcast sermons via radio on Sundays. He commanded high fees for his public appearances, and among his most famous sermons were "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" and "Dry Bones in the Valley." In addition to his fame as a preacher, Franklin was known for his fine singing voice. He greatly encouraged his daughter Aretha Franklin in her musical endeavors, and during the 1950s took Aretha with him on speaking tours and musical engagements.

In addition to his ministry, in the 1950s and 1960s as he became involved in the civil rights movement, and worked to end discriminatory practices against black United Auto Workers members in Detroit.

Personal life

On October 16, 1934, Franklin married his first wife, Alene Gaines, and though that marriage had certainly ended by 1936, the form of dissolution is unknown. On June 3, 1936, Franklin married Barbara Siggers, with whom he had four children between: Erma (1938-2002), Cecil (1940-1989), Aretha (b. 1942), and Carolyn (1944-1988). Barbara had a son by a previous relationship, Vaughn (b. 1934), whom C. L. adopted shortly after the marriage. Vaughn did not know C. L. Franklin was not his father until 1951.^[4] In 1940, Franklin fathered a daughter, Carl Ellan Kelley (née Jennings), by Mildred Jennings, a 13-year-old in his New Salem Baptist Church congregation.^[5]

In 1948, C. L. Franklin and Barbara separated, with Barbara moving with Vaughn to Buffalo, New York, and leaving Franklin with the couple's four other children. However, the couple never divorced.^[6] According to Franklin's biographer, Professor Nick Salvatore of Cornell University, Barbara made periodic trips to Detroit to visit her children and the children traveled to New York to visit her during summer vacations.^[7] Barbara died of a heart attack in 1952 at age 34. Her husband did not attend her funeral.^[8]

C. L. Franklin was a close friend and supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr.^[9], who deeply admired C. L.^[10], and was also known for his close relationships with Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward, two of gospel music's greatest voices. Clara and her singing groups frequently toured with Franklin, and he and Clara had a long-term romantic relationship. Mahalia and Clara greatly encouraged his daughter, Aretha, who credits their mentoring and frequent visits to the Franklin home as great influences.

Violent assault and death

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 10, 1979, Franklin was shot twice at point blank range during what was said to be an attempted robbery at his home on Detroit's West Side. C. L. was taken to Henry Ford Hospital. He remained in a coma for the next five years. The Franklin children moved him back to the house six months after the tragedy and installed a 24-hour nurse at the residence to monitor the minister. He remained at the home until the middle of 1984. He died on July 27, 1984, just one week after being placed in Detroit's New Light Nursing Home. C. L. was 69 years old.

Franklin was entombed at Detroit's historic Woodlawn Cemetery on North Woodward Avenue, with his friend, Rev. Jasper Williams Jr., of the Salem Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, giving the eulogy.

Legacy

LeRoy Bailey Jr., senior pastor of The First Cathedral in New Haven, Connecticut credits C. L. Franklin as one of his major influences.

Pop culture

House musician, Green Velvet released a track in 1993 entitled, "Preacher Man" which consists primarily of a C. L. Franklin sermon.

References

1. ^ Salvatore, Singing in a Strange Land, p. 3-8.
2. ^ Id. at 8.
3. ^ http://www.friendshipmissionarybc.org/churchhistory.html
4. ^ Salvatore, Singing in a Strange Land, at 124.
5. ^ Id. at the age of 61.
6. ^ Id. at 122–123.
7. ^ Id. at 123.
8. ^ Id. at 125.
9. ^ Id. at 284.
10. ^ Id. at 230–231.

Further reading

• Nick Salvatore, Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America, Little Brown, 2005, Hardcover ISBN 0-316-16037-7.
• Jules Schwerin, Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel, Oxford University Press, 1992, Paperback ISBN 0-19-509050-0.
• Interview with Nick Salvatore, author of Singing in a Strange Land, NPR.
• Willa Ward-Royster, How I Got Over: Clara Ward and the World-Famous Ward Singers, Temple University Press, 1997, Paperback ISBN 1-56639-490-2.
• Aretha Franklin and David Ritz, "Aretha: From These Roots," Villard Books (a division of Random House), 1999, Hardcover ISBN 0-375-50033-2.

External links

Biography portal

• "C. L. Franklin". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4400. Retrieved August 10, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Franklin, C. L.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 22, 1915
Place of birth
Date of death	July 27, 1984
Place of death