# 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity

John Hope Franklin and Yu Ying-shih were awarded the 2006 Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. John Hope Franklin's pioneering work established African American history as an important area of academic study and popular understanding. His contributions ranged across the genres of non-fiction writing, from scholarly monographs to works of history intended for a non-academic public, to a textbook, a biography, and an autobiography. Long before the "agency" of ordinary people became a touchstone of historical writing, Franklin demonstrated that blacks were active agents in shaping their own and the nation's history. His studies unearthed numerous long-neglected yet indisputably essential parts of the American past. Taken together, they made the point that no account of American history could be complete if it did not afford a key place to the conditions and struggles of black Americans. Yu Ying-shih has been described by his peers as "the greatest Chinese intellectual historian of our generation." His knowledge encompasses nearly the entire span of Chinese history, from early times to the present and his work is read and discussed throughout the Chinese-speaking world. In addition, Yu is a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and champion of the pro-democracy movement in mainland China.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2006
- By: John W. Kluge Center (library Of Congress)
- Genres: Education, History, Religion
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021690798/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021690798?play=1)