Join the Brown University Library for a talk by Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE, CBE, on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Racial Justice Resource Center on the second floor of the Rockefeller Library. Mr. Franklin’s presentation on collecting will include examples from his book collection and time for Q&A.
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
“Becoming American” Film Screening
Mr. Franklin is the executive producer of “Becoming American: Philadelphia’s Story,” a feature length documentary film exploring the founding of the United States through the lens of Philadelphia, America’s first capital.
In a partner event, the John Carter Brown Library is screening the film on Tuesday, November 10 at 1 p.m. Registration is required.
Oliver St. Clair Franklin
Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE, CBE, is a bibliophile, film producer, and cultural leader whose current work focuses on bringing rigorous scholarship on Afro-American history and cultural practices to the screen. His distinguished career spans the arts, business, and diplomacy. He served as Philadelphia’s first Arts Commissioner and founded the nation’s first Black Film Festival. In investment management, he was a founding partner of the first U.S. investment firm established in South Africa.
His diplomatic service included serving as Honorary British Consul in Philadelphia. In recognition of his contributions to strengthening Anglo-American relations, he was appointed both OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by the late British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr. Franklin is a graduate of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and Balliol College, Oxford, where he is an Honorary Fellow.
Oliver St. Clair Franklin African American Book Collection
Previously, Mr. Franklin donated a collection of books written by authors of African heritage to the John Hay Library. Many of the volumes are also signed by the authors. The collection contains a total of 903 titles dating from 1786 to 2019, with the bulk published in the mid 20th century. He described his reason for creating this collection this way: “Collecting African American literature was my personal way of building resilience and resistance — a symbol of my quest for humanness.”