A. June Franklin

Aletha June Franklin (August 31, 1930 – December 6, 2010) was an American politician and civil rights activist. Franklin was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1966. Franklin helped pass Iowa's Fair Housing Practices Law in 1967, and she was with the Iowa House of Representatives for three terms.

Personal life Franklin was born in Clarinda, Iowa, on August 31, 1930, to parents Glenn H. Franklin and Jean Roper Griggs. She graduated from Clarinda High School in 1948. She then attended Drake University where she earned an associate's degree in business administration.

In 1968, at the Iowa State Capitol, Franklin addressed the nation about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. She begged for the "good white people" of the United States to allow the black man to "walk in dignity and equality". Franklin also said that the school board in Des Moines, Iowa should end school segregation, that the city council should let African Americans have jobs, and that the city's welfare recipients are treated in a "humiliating" way. During the speech, she stated that she had sent a telegram to ten members of the Congress and Senate requesting that King's birthday be made a national holiday.