Story author of bestselling from slavery to freedom appeared 2006. The first white man that engage me that i remember when i was in high school and it was a man from the afternoon newspaper. The tribune did not employ any young black newsboys. I was employed with another job i wasnt always clear what it was but in the afternoon i helped him tied the newspapers and wrap them or whatever we di did. That i help to deliver the newspapers. But i did not collect. He collected the money and he had all the contacts i had no contact with the newspaper all theyll know they knew i was employed by him. But there were no black people to serve as newsboys. My father was a lawyer. I had contact with white people through him, but most casual and not serious just being introduced. Was born in a village in oklahoma south of tulsa about 60 miles south and my father and mother move there in 1912 because he had experience from Shreveport Louisiana and these experiences were not pleasant so they moved to when all black town to give up on the white people because of the way they treated him he was thrown out of court in shreveport so from where he was practicing going to an all white town or the allblack town at least he would have that humiliation he experienced in shreveport. I wasnt born so they moved their 1912. What was that experience like . Because then they separate the methodist from the baptist and the baptist were hard on my mother and father. And the result was the strife was not racial but religious and after a while, we lived there several years after i was born they were not happy there because it was such a Small Community it wasnt practical for a lawyer to pursue his profession so my father in 1920 moved on to tulsa oklahoma and left us behind my mother was teaching and then with my first year of school to move on to tulsa at the end of the school year and then the family would be reunited or put back togethe together. The tulsa riots happen 1921. Yes. We were just about to move to tulsa. We were all packed actually we are waiting for our father to come get us and then on the train to tulsa where he had already made arrangements to get a house for us and that sort of thing. So we waited and he never came. Absent radio or television or telephone or any kind of communication we didnt know what it happened. Finally my mother read in the newspaper discovered that there was a race riot with many casualties. So that had anxiety and apprehension even more we didnt know if he was living or dead. For about ten days later she got a brief letter from him saying he was all right and unharmed except that everything that he had acquired law office burned to the ground the house was burned and he was in detention during those days and could not get in touch with my mother this is First Contact and said he didnt know when he would be there it would be sometime before he could make it down there. Was even more important and then to make good contact with the victims of the riot suing the city and the state and the Insurance Companies and that kept him busy he was practicing law at that time the entire black community was burned to the ground. What sparked the riot . A young black man was accused of sexually assaulting a young white girl on an elevator. He had been acquitted. But the White Community felt justice had not been served. So most of them felt that the blacks should be held accountable. So even though he is being accused they said they would get him out of jail and to commit that kind of caught on the harm to him to teach all the people a lesson. That meant he would be seized and lynched and then they went down to the courthouse armed and were about to take him and give him protection but he was assured nothing would happen to him and that they should go back to their part of town which they were willing to do but as they retreated, someone fired a gun and the rest is history. Host good afternoon our guest is doctor John Hope Franklin author or coauthor of 17 books wellknown for his book from slavery to freedom the most recent is the autobiography here is the cover and we will begin taking your calls in a few minutes. Here is a picture of your mother, Molly Franklin what did she do . She was a graduate of the University First in the spring of oklahoma and then tulsa im sorry where i was born but shortly after i was born she took charge of me and took me to school with her everyday about me in the back of the room with a pencil and paper and told me to be quiet. I was quiet. And she felt i would just be scratching on the paper but she was teaching the children she had the alphabet on the board i that that was more interesting than anything i could do so when she was going around one day to see with the children were doing she came back to see what i was doing i had alphabets and letters and simple sentences and she was astounded to learn i had taken and everything she was teaching. Im not certain when i learned to read and write but it was about ten and from that point on i was a student. Host how weird is it to be africanamerican in 1950 with two parents that were College Graduates . I think it was fairly rare. And to confound from the reconstruction. And with plessy against ferguson and. And that brought an end to whatever. With the fights. For african americans. And with the 19th century. To have some state schools and then scattered throughout the south. But you dont have large numbers and going to colleges and it was rather remarkable. And you have a very interesting point many decades later. Then young black men. So black girls could not handle themselves in the world and then to become the victims and with that activity or exploitation whatever. And then to educate there was never a time but those that were exposed to Higher Education my grandparents were slaves yes. They were slaves and tennessee my grandmother and grandfather on my father side were slaves the mississippi. And they were sold to indians and transported to the indian territory where my grandfather as a young man grew up and married my grandmother. And then to become a rancher. And then with the state of oklahoma. I got hooked on orchids in 1959 at the university of hawaii. I came back when i was living in brooklyn. And then with the greenhouse and between and with that collection of orchids at the botanical garden. And then told me a great deal. And was chicago. With a much larger greenhouse. And then i came to and with that first hobby greenhouse all those sometimes anything larger than 17 feet and then to become a slave to the orchid. [laughter] how many orchids are in here . And the banana tree. And all the things. And all the time. And nonstop. And it is remarkable. So i enjoy it all the time so much. Where do you acquire the orchids . And then from above to have a permit from the department of agriculture to bring orchids in from brazil some are from the far east, southeast asia,. But coming into the greenhouse what you didnt see yesterday that i bought this from bombay 1976. Taking care of that for 30 years . Yes. Yes. I have some offspring of it to. Is not any highpowered scientific method. That is how they start . Yes. From bombay india. And then it has the new leaves in the new shoots. This little fellow will grow up but then the mayor gave me this when i was there a few months ago. So this is named after me lady cavalier John Hope Franklin. This orchid over here is named for my wife i need a franklin anita franklin. It was developed by a place in South Carolina and they were very friendly and very fond of my wife. And wanted to do something in her memory. Is it weird for a historian to have a hobby like this . And that from the main activity and it is always challenging to learn a lot. And for a person that did not have a scientific that was always fascinating and to be enthralled by the orchids. But but when i was a little boy so this is a continuation. I have piles of books there did you actually count the number . No. Its hard to count books. You are right i write a newsweek column is that really a book . And then you write more columns and then theres another collection to overlap. I think its very hard. Which sold the most . The one you have freedom to choose. It was a bestselling Nonfiction Book of 1980 and sold 1 million copies. How many languages hasnt been translated quick. I forget but Something Like 20. What about this book . Published in 1962. It sold well over half a million copies. And when it was First Published in the New York Times and with the Washington Post and the only review technically and the reason is no doubt in defense of capitalism and free markets and now is not a popular topic at that time. This is only been out a couple of years. My wife and my memoir. How long have you been married to the woman on the cover . 62 years. She is about the same age. She doesnt know her age exactly because she was born now i think it is ukraine but she refers to it as poland. It was russia and came to the United States just before world war i as a child. But her birth certificate has been lost, it was burned up in the First World War in that town in east europe went up in flames. There is a question if she is one year younger or older than i am. We are not sure. Host if i read the book right, you said you dont read . I read it more than i used to but i dont regularly. Why . First of all i live out here in San Francisco i read the wall street journal in the local paper daily. When we lived in new york i did read the New York Times but in general i have found its much too wordy for my purposes. I dont have enough time to read it if im going to read it i have to read it and im not very sympathetic with the general editorial position. Host what other authors had an impact on you . No doubt the writer had the greatest impact was friedrich i want hayek. And we talked about that on book notes and the road to serfdom for which i have writte written. Did you know him . Yes. And i first met him in 1946. Host why was the book so important . When i say hayek influenced me its not just the road to serfdom but the other books like the constitution of liberty, it is because it help me organize my thoughts the way society should be organized what was special about a free society and the prerequisites. And i was generally sympathetic to those ideas that hayek was a very deep thinker and if you read him you cant read him without thinking. And without those basic ideas. Host when did he die . Im not sure the exact date. And mustve been ten or 15 years ago. He was born in 1896 i think and live to the age i think 90. That wouldve taken him through 1986. Host who in your lifetime have you most disagreed with on economic theory . Thats a very hard question to ask. But to pick out a single name from that that going back the people that influenced me are not only to their books with that influence on me. And burns who later head of the chairman Federal Reserve board was my teacher when i was at Rutgers University and he was my mentor for much of my life. And of course my teachers in chicago doing graduate work. And then with a great influence. Host in your book the two lucky people in your autobiography, you mention the whole discussion of nobel prize in 1976 it took a number of years for you to get it. What impact did that have quick. It didnt have that much of an impact. Host what about once you got it . The major impact is not on me but on the publicity. I dont think it had much impact on me as a person but it did alter my opportunities and made me more visible and available. Host we talked to you your husband for two hours he had a lot to say. I heard it all. I never like to talk very much. I know its in my jeans. Host so your picture is on the cover. And i had an equal role to write it. Almost everything i have done is in writing but i dont go out to speak about it. And i refuse to be on the Television Program. I was very careful. I did a lot of the planning and the discussion. But nothing was done in advance. Host you have any reason why . No. I dont really like to compete. He speaks well. He has done it all his life. Why should i compete with him . [laughter] host i asked him why it has worked. We never compete with one another. Host what about economics in your life . I was trained my idea of being married at least in the beginning from very different that what people these days feel about getting married. I did not intend to have a career or attempt to equal my husbands. That was one of the sources of our success. Host where did your family come from . From what was russia when we were there. Now its not russia anymore its ukraine i guess. I keep track of what has happened to it because i was an infant when i left and i have no ties to that part of the world. Host where did you grow up . Portland oregon. Host your parents . I guess the main reason our relatives were there. My father came to the United States twice and the second time he earned enough money to send for the rest of us. Host he went to college why did you transfer . Primarily because my brother was responsible for my complete education. And wanted me to go to chicago. And then as much as 2000 a year but we thought we both could live on it but my mother thought i was too young. And then graduated from high school. And then we persuaded her that i was old enough. You remember the first time you met this man . Yes. The first graduate course at university. The professor arranged, you have heard the stories so many times probably, arrange the class alphabetically so he could identify people. Mine began with the b and his begin with the letter f and we sat next to each other i complete the story that i was the only girl in the class. Host in the entire class . Was at the same ratio in other classes in chicago . Mostly and economics. There were very few. In the thirties very few women went to graduate school. Host you told me briefly before we went on the air that you completed your work for your doctorate but didnt get your phd. Why not . Why not . I worked on it. For one year after we were married but during that year i also had a job. And then we move from one place to another one year in wisconsin and then washington then new york. I forget the sequence. And then we decided we wanted to have a family. That took a long time. Only two kids but we lost the first one. The first one was lost out of one after delivery than that took one year out of my life that i went to work again and then with the hopes we could produce a child. Host where are your two children today . In california. My daughter has been ever since she went to berkeley she decided then she was never going to leave california and she never has. She graduated from berkeley and then law school and got her degree. And San Francisco as a matter of fact. And my son lived in chicago for five or six years. And then to come out to california and lives in santa clara. Host our guest here from San Francisco on book tv doctor Milton Friedman and his wife rose who was also here on the cover and is your most successful book. Yes. What do remember about working together on this book . It was from what was already said we have the Television Program notes. So we started with one chapter and then ended with the other person so we really dont know who wrote which words. Thats true about all the books we have written. And that was the shortest time because we had a deadline they wanted to have it out in time to be available when the Television Program was shown. So we started on it and marc march 1979. And then to be published by labor day they got it published by january is when the tv program started. Host what does she do that you dont or vice versa . Everything. Nothing. We both use a computer now. Host we talked about aging your both 88 years old. You surprised at how well you did . You move around. Everybody says we are bouncing around. I dont feel that we are bouncing around frankly. [laughter] many things i cant do today that i used to be able to do. I dont have the energy i used to have. Any advice for people would you do anything differently . Maybe i wouldve lived more extravagantly because we were always saving our pennies. Saving them for a rainy day that never came. I saved my pennies. You would say youre saving them for a rainy day and living in a perpetual drizzle. Host do you disagree with your husband economically . Very rarely. Host did you start from the same point . Thats point. We learned from the same teachers. We grew up in the same kind of home. Caller hello doctor friedman, either of them. [laughter] i have a question ive been wanting to ask someone that is knowledgeable about the situation for a long time. So with the minimum wage that automatically goes to inflation. And that was just my own idea. What do you think . Host will the minimum wage lead to inflation if you raise it . I dont think it will to inflation but it will lead to unemployment because people who are hiring these people they dont feel that i on that they can pay them more so therefore they will reduce the employees. Host at this point of the discussion there is a sense that they will pass an increase. Wire the republicans going to go along with it . [laughter] they go along with everything these days. Because it is superficially political. But on the surface things look very good. And then for them to have a higher minimum wage. And thes indirect effects that are unseen that counterbalance the good effect. Because if you raise the price you will buy less of it. Sugar, automobiles, the higher the price the less people will buy. If wages are higher than they will buy less. How does that lead to inflation . There is an element of truth to what he says that if you raise the minimum wage too much, and create massive unemployment it would be a great pressure to do something about unemployment. What does that lead to . Inflation. As a way to literally reducing the real value and then to ask why they would agree to a dollar minimum wage in two years and part of that they agreed to it is because its not really a raise. Its a raise of nominal terms and prices have been go