FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation Donates Books to Local Schools
(TULSA, OK – January 14, 2026) – The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, in partnership with Dr. Clint Smith, has donated copies of Dr. Smith’s award-winning book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America (young readers’ edition), to Tulsa area public and private schools as part of an effort to support historical education and dialogue. Dr. Smith was the keynote speaker for the Center’s 14th Annual Dinner of Reconciliation in 2025.
How the Word Is Passed features journeys to Monticello Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, Galveston, Texas, New York City, and Gorée Island. With each visit, Smith analyzes how preservative structures within American society—such as monuments, road names, holidays, and neighborhoods—can reflect deep, conflicting, foundational truths about America’s past. He also considers how the cumulative writing and rewriting of history shapes contemporary societal perceptions of American slavery.
“We are pleased to partner with Clint Smith to make this book available to schools at a time when history and culture are increasingly under attack. Memory matters as a tool for healing, for justice, and for preserving truth,” said Reube Gant, executive director.
The text includes visits to a variety of historical landmarks and monuments and explores how each site depicts the history of American slavery. For this book, Smith was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction (2021), the Stowe Prize (2022), the Dayton Literary Peace Prize (2022), and the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism (2022).
The Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering reconciliation and trust through scholarly endeavors and positive community engagement, inspired by the legacy of Dr. John Hope Franklin.
Media Contact: Reuben Gant, Executive Director, 918-295-5009, rgant@jhfcenter.org
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