2004.12.03
Thank You: J. Franklin Henderson
Professor J. Franklin HendersonOhio University, my Alma Mater, has a program where students vote for who was the best professor that year. These professors are then given leave to create a class they really want to teach, as opposed to a classes the have to teach. It’s called the University Professor Program. As a student, getting into these classes was quite competitive.
In the 1990-91 school year I was fortunate enough to get into one of these classes. The title was Heroes and Devils and it was taught by J. Franklin Henderson of the Political Science Department. Professor Henderson had led an interesting life, starting with being one of the first black graduates from Little Rock’s Central High School, the location of one of many serious civil right’s efforts.
The name of the class, as I said, was Heroes and Devils. Why he decided to teach the class I don’t recall, but I think he was disappointed that so many modern Americans were making social, political and economic issues grey. No longer were people able to see the world in terms of black and white, right and wrong, but only as shades of vile grey which mired opinions and prevented passion for the things a person might really care about to bloom. This was, along with wretched Political Correctness, one of the big problems with university education when I was in school.
I’m sure he was not so blinded as to not be aware of the great pitfalls of viewing the world in such absolute and delineated forms, but I’m just as certain he knew the benefit of individuals knowing how to judge an issue or another person in clear terms.
In class he would present us with historical personalities and we would talk about them, thier works and their legacies. The class ended with each student declaring -clearly and definitively- whether the person was a Hero or a Devil. For our final papers he assigned each of us a person -mine was Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes- and we had to had to declare him or her a Hero or a Devil.
The class was an great experience for me. I’d never been called upon to sit in judgement of another person, even if the people are now merely a part of history. Counter intuitively, I learned that it is easy to villify a person for his evil aspects when perhaps they did more good than anyone knows, and to glamorize others when they are corrupt, irresponsible, and dangerous. Forcing myself to make absolute judgements taught me more about myself and my opinions than any other experience in college, and it’s the single class I still talk about.
Professor Henderson, along with my other political science professor Ron Hunt, gave me an interest in politics that I might never have had otherwise. Professor Henderson’s interest in civil rights and his brilliant Heroes and Devils class helped form many of the opinions I have today. I can still hear his voice egging us on, coaxing our opinions out of the grey.
I was very saddened to learn the Professor Henderson died recently. Thank you, Frank, for one of the greatest experiences in my lifelong education. I declare, in no uncertain tems, that you are a Hero.
I found this by Leigh Householder, which give another perspective on Frank’s life and influence on some individuals.
2 Comments Categorized: college life memories
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2 Responses to “Thank You: J. Franklin Henderson”
- Leigh says (December 6th, 2004 at 21:18:35 )
Just wanted to say that your comments about Frank were really nice to read. Ron Hunt actually gave a really nice eulogy at the service. He’s department chair now … kind of difficult to imagine considering that the last time I had one of his classes, he was still talking about kids smoking pot in the classroom back in the 70s. Both are/were wonderful professors…
- douglas.nerad » Thanks: Mr. Gahan says (September 30th, 2006 at 19:21:02 )
[...] Once Mr. Gahan said that in 30 years time we would find him sitting at a street cafe in Paris. I hope this is still true. Unfortunately I can’t find any information on where he is today, or even if he’s still alive. It probably doesn’t help that I can’t even remember his first name. Yes, my brain is like a sieve. Mr. Gahan was one of the two best teachers I ever had along with Professor Henderson, and certainly the best teacher I had at Seoul American High School. The 30 years will be up soon; I wonder if I should make a trek to Paris and wander the streets. [...]
