Buck Colbert Franklin was an attorney, community advocate and defender of Greenwood residents in the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. His legacy of courage and commitment to justice lives on through UTulsa Law’s B.C. Franklin Legal Clinic, where students carry forward his work today. The annual B.C. Franklin Lecture honors that legacy by bringing judges, advocates, historians and writers to campus to examine how the rule of law, public memory and community advocacy intersect in the pursuit of justice.
Buck Colbert Franklin Memorial Civil Rights Lecture
B.C. Franklin Lecture The Ahmaud Arbery Decision
UTulsa’s College of Law hosted its 2025 B.C. Franklin Lecture in December, featuring Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, who presided over the Georgia trial in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, alongside a panel whose work spans racial justice, public memory and community advocacy. Walmsley opened with an account of the case’s legal complexities, emphasizing the importance of an independent judiciary amid competing narratives. The panel that followed included John Whittington Franklin, grandson of B.C. Franklin; Tiffany Crutcher, founder of the Terence Crutcher Foundation; and author Maurice Carlos Ruffin, who explored how history, storytelling and organizing shape justice.
