Harold Alonza Franklin was born in Talladega, Alabama in 1932. He was one of 10 children and had a twin brother. Franklin’s father worked for the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind and his mother was a piano teacher. The family owned a small farm while also operating a Talladega funeral home.

Franklin didn’t care much for the farm life. With a love of learning, Franklin was encouraged to seek opportunities beyond his hometown. Thurgood Marshall was an inspiration to Franklin, who wanted to become an attorney.

After dropping out of high school in 1951, Franklin joined the Air Force and earned his GED. In 1958, he would enroll at Alabama State. Despite wanting to join the University of Alabama’s law school, Franklin instead, at the advice of his mentor Fred Gray, enrolled at Auburn University for a master’s degree in history.

Franklin’s initial application to Auburn’s graduate school in 1962 was rejected, with Auburn citing Alabama State not being an accredited institution with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (ASU would be accredited in 1966 by the SACS).

In 1963, Franklin, Gray, and the NAACP filed a suit against Auburn on the basis that the application was rejected due to race. The presiding judge ruled in Franklin’s favor.

In response, Auburn president Ralph Brown Draughon, who had previously used Alabama public safety officials to gather information on black applicants to deny admission, announced that graduate students would no longer live in the only men’s dorm on campus, Magnolia Hall. Auburn was again sued over this, with the change being overturned.

On January 4, 1964, Harold Franklin became the first African-American student at Auburn University when he registered for classes at the library, a building that now carries President Draughon’s name. Campus was closed to most as state troopers were sent by Governor George Wallace to obstruct Franklin. Some students heckled Franklin (though at least two were supportive).

Franklin completed his coursework and was required to write and defend a thesis paper like other graduate students. After changing research topics based on potentially controversial social and civil rights topics, according to his advisor, Franklin would submit multiple revisions of his paper. Franklin believed he was being held to a standard above his fellow white students and that Auburn would never allow him to successfully defend his thesis.

In 1969, Franklin withdrew from Auburn. He earned a master’s degree in 1974 from the University of Denver. He would later teach at Talladega College, North Carolina A&T University, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University.

In 2001, Auburn honored Franklin with an honorary doctorate but never admitted to its role in Franklin’s initial time at the university. In 2019, Auburn finally admitted its past fault and invited Franklin to defend his thesis, over 50 years later.

Franklin defended his paper on the history of Alabama State University on February 16, 2020, and would receive his degree at the Fall 2020 graduation ceremonies.