Page | 1 Local History Resource Center Peabody Institute Library 82 Main Street, Peabody, MA 01960 Franklin Parker Papers, 1936-2014 Collection Summary Reference Code: MPeaI Repository: Local History Resource Center, Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, MA. Call Number: MS8 Creator: Franklin & Better Parker Title: Franklin Parker Papers, 1936-2014 Dates: 1936-2014 Size: 1.0416 LF Language(s): Collection materials are in English. Abstract: Franklin Parker is a professor emeritus at West Virginia University who has written extensively on George Peabody and the social foundations of education from a world view. His papers in this collection focus on his work and interest in George Peabody. Biographical History Franklin Parker (1921- ) and Betty June Parker (1929- ) (coincidentally have the same last name), met at Berea College near Lexington, KY, Sept. 1946; Frank graduated, B.A., English, 1949; Betty graduated, B.A., History, 1950. They were married on June 12, 1950, in Decatur, Ala., Betty's home town, in her Methodist Church. Franklin was born in New York on June 2, 1921 his father was Jacob Zaranick and mother was Ethel Serebrenick. Franklin attended the University of Illinois Graduate Library Science School, Urbana, 1949-50, were he earned his Masters in Library Science (M.L.S.) Franklin and Betty both first taught at Ferrum College near Roanoke, VA from 1950-1952. They went on to attend George Peabody College for Teachers and take classes at Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville, TN, summers 1951, 1952; Peabody College would later merge with Vanderbilt University in 1979. Teacher, writer, and researcher Betty June Parker was born June 3, 1929 in Decatur, Alabama. Her parents were Charles and Jane (Meadows) Parker. Betty studied at Berea College where she earned a B.A. in History in 1950. She later earned an MA in English from George Peabody College in 1956. Betty Parker taught English at several colleges and was a reading instructor at the University of Texas at Austin (1963-1964). Betty Parker also worked as a collaborator and editor with her husband on his research George Peabody. The two of them have given lectures and slide presentations to civic and academic groups. She is a member of the League of Women Voters and American Association of University Women. They worked part time jobs while completing their course work in Nashville and graduated in August of 1956. Betty completed an M.A. degree in English while Franklin completed his Ed.D. in Social Foundations of Education; Franklin’s doctoral dissertation topic, was on George Peabody took both of them to Salem and Peabody, Massachusetts. They also traveled to London, England, for three months, from September to December of Page | 2 1954, which influenced their lives, and was first suggested by Peabody College for Teachers Graduate Dean Felix C. Robb (1914-1997). Dean Robb told Franklin that during his own doctoral study at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard’s History Dr. Arthur Schlesinger Sr. (1888-1965), knowing Robb was a Peabody College administrator, told him: “Robb, your college founder, George Peabody (1795-1869), was the largely forgotten founder of modern educational philanthropy. His Peabody Education Fund, just after the Civil War, set the pattern for all later large educational funds and foundations. A well done doctoral dissertation based on his original papers and related papers needs to be written.” Perhaps regretting that he had written on another topic (school administration), Robb urged Franklin to look into George Peabody’s influence. Betty and Franklin did and were inspired by what they found. The two of them spent many months reading documents on George Peabody in libraries in Nashville, Washington, DC; Baltimore, New York City, Boston, Peabody, and Salem, Massachusetts; plus libraries in London, England. The research trip that brought them to London changed their lives and they took twenty-seven trips abroad. In London they read George Peabody-related papers at his banking firm, the British Library, University of London Library, and at Windsor Castle. Upon returning to Nashville in December of 1954, Franklin and Betty found new part-time jobs, with Frank writing his doctoral dissertation on George Peabody. On February 18, 1955, George Peabody’s 160th birthday, Franklin was invited to give the Peabody College Founders Day Address, published as George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Philanthropy (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1955). Franklin wrote, and Betty edited, his “George Peabody” dissertation, which was defended, accepted, and later published by Vanderbilt University Press as George Peabody, a Biography, 1971; updated and republished with 12 illustrations in 1995 on the 200th anniversary of George Peabody’s birth. The George Peabody research experience further strengthened the couples’ bond. Franklin and Betty’s experiences at Berea College, Peabody College, and their research experiences, especially in London, led Franklin to strongly emphasize international education during his over forty years of teaching at colleges and universities around the United States. Some of the schools include: Distinguished Visiting Professor at Western Carolina University (1989-1994); Distinguished Visiting Professor at Northern Arizona State University (Flagstaff) (1986-1989); Claude Worthington Benedum Professor of Education at West Virginia University (1968-1986 and Emeritus in 1986); Professor of Education at the University of Oklahoma (1964-1968); Associate Professor of Education at the University of Texas (Austin) (1957-1964) and State University of New York at New Paltz (1956-1957). His work as a librarian includes: Circulation Librarian, George Peabody College for Teachers of Vanderbilt University (1955-1956); Librarian, Belmont University (1952-1954); and Ferrum College (1950-1952). Both felt that teachers with intercultural-international understanding could help new generations of students build a more peaceful world. As long time editor of the Comparative and International Education Society Newsletter, Franklin learned of, and publicized, low-cost travel and international study opportunities for students and teachers. A competitive Kappa Delta Pi (education honor society) Fellowship in International Education took them to Africa for eight months during 1957-58. The British south central African colonies of Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland (later Malawi) had formed a multiracial federation. Their research plan was to record how this multiracial experiment was working out educationally for the white, African, Asian, mixed-blooded racial groups, especially the segregated African majority. The Carnegie Page | 3 Corporation president, long involved in African education, helped them become attached as unpaid researchers to the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in Salisbury, now the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. They visited African mission schools and white government schools, and studied documents in the Government Archives. They explained their research purpose and limited funds in a letter to the editor of the Salisbury (now Harare) newspaper. In response, Thus they had an opportunity to compare ruling white minority luxury living with majority African subsistence living. The culmination of that research and experience led Franklin to publish a book about the 1957-58 experience. The book was titled African Development and Education in Southern Rhodesia and was published by the Ohio State University Press in 1960. After the book was published Franklin was asked to contribute articles about Africa to encyclopedia yearbooks: Americana, World Book, Collier’s among others for over a decade. In 1961-62, as a Fulbright Research Scholar, Franklin and Betty were attached to the Rhodes Livingstone Institute, Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (now part of the University of Zambia). While in Africa, Franklin wrote many articles about the Northern Rhodesia government and mission schools. Franklin also wrote three pamphlets (with Betty’s collaboration) in Phi Delta Kappa’s publication series. They were The Battle of the Books: Kanawha County, 1975, based on a much publicized school textbook censorship case in Charlestown, W. Va.; What Can We Learn from the Schools of China? 1976, was based on Franklin’s China school visits in March 1974. They both would later visit China’s schools in July 1978 and again during December 1986-January-1987. The last pamphlet was titled British Schools and Ours, 1979, based on school visits in and around London plus short courses we took at Cambridge University and the University of London. Franklin Parker has published over 400 articles and has presented at many conferences and given lectures along with Betty over the years. Publications include encyclopedia articles, journals, series editor, chapters in books and book reviews. Retired in 1994 and live in Uplands Retirement Village, which is located in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee. Scope and Content Note This collection has been divided into eight series. The bulk of the collection contains the papers of Franklin Parker, including: dissertation abstract; restricted dissertation chapter; published and published materials; book reviews; research on George Peabody and personal correspondence. The collection has been arranged chronologically within each series and divided into eight series at the folder level contain specific topics and publications. Arrangement Series 1. Dissertation, 1956