“I want to be out there on the firing line, helping, directing or doing something to try to make this a better world, a better place to live.”

– John Hope Franklin

The story of the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc. is just beginning. It is a story filled with:

• Drama –Waiting eight years for state funding
• Resolve –Securing $950,000+ funding to complete the Park
• Patience – Overseeing construction of Reconciliation Park and establishing an organizational framework
• Action – Launching five major program initiatives in its first year of operation

Beginning with the 2008 groundbreaking for Reconciliation Park, which was Dr. John Hope Franklin’s last public appearance before his death in March 2009, the Center’s Board of Directors has created an exciting vision –

to transform the bitterness and mistrust caused by years of racial division, even violence, into a hopeful future of reconciliation and cooperation for Tulsa and the nation.

A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2007, the Center is building its reputation through its programs and projects even before there is a building. When completed in December 2009, Reconciliation Park will be a public-private partnership, owned by The City of Tulsa and managed by the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc. Then the work of designing, funding and building the physical Center for Reconciliation will begin.

For more information on the activities of the John Hope Franklin Center, please contact:

Jean Neal at 918-295-5009 or by email at jneal@jhfcenter.org.

Board of Directors, with their role on the Board