C.L. Franklin

C. L. Franklin
Franklin in 1975.
Born	Clarence LaVaughn Walker (1915-01-22)January 22, 1915 Sunflower County, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	July 27, 1984(1984-07-27) (aged 69) Detroit, Michigan U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Minister Civil Rights Activist
Years active	1931–1979
Known for	New Bethel Baptist Church minister, Father of Aretha Franklin
Spouse(s)	Alene Gaines (m. 1934–36) Barbara Siggers (m. 1936–52)
Children	Erma Franklin, Cecil Franklin, Vaughn Franklin, Carl E. Kelley, Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin

Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984), better known as Bishop C. L. Franklin or The Reverend C. L. Franklin, was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. Known as the man with the "Million-Dollar Voice", Franklin served as the pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, from 1946 to 1979. Franklin was also the father of American singer–songwriter Aretha Franklin.

He was born Clarence LaVaughn Walker in Sunflower County, Mississippi, to sharecroppers Willie Walker and Rachel Walker née Pittman. C. L. Franklin would recall that the only thing his father did for him was to teach him to salute when he returned from service in World War I in 1919. Willie Walker abandoned the family shortly thereafter (Clarence was only four years old), and the next year Rachel married Henry Franklin, whose surname the family adopted. At age 16, he became a preacher, initially working the Black itinerant preaching circuit, before settling at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained until May 1944. From there he moved to the pulpit of the Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York, where he served until June 1946 when he became pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan.

Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s his fame grew. He preached throughout the country while maintaining his pulpit at New Bethel. Known as the man with the "Million Dollar Voice", Franklin was one of the first ministers to place his sermons on records (which continued into the 1970s, many of them issued by Joe Von Battle's JVB label), and to broadcast sermons via radio on Sundays. He commanded high fees for his public appearances. Among his most famous sermons were "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" and "Dry Bones in the Valley". In 2011, "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. In addition to his fame as a preacher, Franklin was known for his fine singing voice. He greatly encouraged his daughter Aretha Franklin in her musical endeavors, and during the 1950s took her with him on speaking tours and musical engagements. He also formed an a'capella group with Anthony Alexander Chamblee, his first cousin. They only made one album before he accepted the call to preach. In addition to his ministry, in the 1950s and 1960s as he became involved in the civil rights movement, and worked to end discriminatory practices against black United Auto Workers members in Detroit.