The C. L. Franklin collection is a small but significant accumulation of materials relating to the life and career of this Detroit-based clergyman. Although the collection dates from the mid-1950s, most of the materials fall within the period of 1963 to 1984. The collection is comprised of photocopies and copyprints of materials made available to the library by Erma Franklin. The importance of the collection is for the sampling of Franklin sermons that have been preserved, for the scattered documentation of the important March of Freedom that took place in Detroit in the summer of 1963, and for the copyprints made of photographs of Franklin, his family and his friends and professional associates. The collection has been arranged into five series: Biographical Information, Various Papers, Topical Files, Photographs, and Sound Recordings.
C.L. Franklin was a nationally known African American clergyman, active in the civil right movement, and longtime pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. He was born Clarence LaVaughn Franklin January 22, 1915 in Sunflower County, Mississippi. While a teenager, he started preaching in rural churches in Mississippi. In 1938, he went to Memphis to become pastor of New Salem Baptist Church. In Memphis, he also attended the Howe School of Religion and LeMoyne College. He later moved to a Baptist church in Buffalo, New York, and while there he took courses at the University of Buffalo.
In 1946, Franklin moved to Detroit where he founded New Bethel Baptist Church. In 1952, his wife Barbara died leaving Franklin to raise their five children: Erma, Carolyn, Aretha, Cecil, and Vaughn.
Franklin gained renown as a preacher whose oratorical skills were responsible in part for the great growth in New Bethel's membership over the next three decades. Franklin's ministry also included radio broadcasts and many of his messages were made available through commercially produced records. Franklin also achieved recognition outside of his own congregation. When preaching in other churches, Franklin often took his daughter Aretha with him. Her talent as a gifted gospel singer reflected on Franklin and the fame of his ministry grew.
Throughout his life, Franklin involved himself politically. He was ever mindful of the needs of both his congregation and of the wider African American community. He was active in civil rights issues and demonstrations and was vocal in his opposition to racism. In 1963, he help to organize and enlist support for the Freedom March led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. down Woodward Avenue in Detroit. The march, which drew more than 125,000 participants, was claimed by some as the prototype of King's march in Washington later in the summer of that same year. A few years later, in 1969, Franklin rented his church to the Republic of New Africa, a militant African American separatist organization. While this meeting was in progress, police and bystanders outside the church exchanged gun fire. One policeman was killed. Subsequently, police stormed the church and arrested 142 individuals all of whom were later released when it was found that their arrests were made improperly. Not all of his congregation were pleased that their pastor had opened the church to this group, but Franklin was forthright in his belief that all groups should be given the opportunity to present their views.
In 1979, Franklin confronted burglars who had broken into his home. Franklin was shot twice and went into a coma that would last more than five years. He died July 27, 1984.
