Alabama NewsCenter — Legacy of Harold A. Franklin, Auburn University’s first African American student, preserved at dedication ceremony

By Neal Reid
Auburn University

The legacy of Harold A. Franklin, Auburn University’s first African American student, will live on forever through a specially designed desegregation marker expanse that was unveiled on campus at a recent celebration ceremony.

The area near the marker – adjacent to the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, where he first registered for classes – commemorates Franklin’s courageous efforts to desegregate the land-grant institution and has been expanded with hardscaping and landscaping enhancements, including a new bronze plaque and circular, brick courtyard. Franklin, who died Sept. 9 at 88, integrated Auburn as the university’s first Black student on Jan. 4, 1964, coming to the Plains as a graduate school enrollee.

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