Terrence Franklin Presents “Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice” to Orange County Estate Planning Council

Partner Terrence Franklin had been a trust and estate litigator, handling disputes including will contests for a quarter century, when he discovered a will contest from the 1840s that challenged the will done by his white fourth great-grandfather that emancipated Franklin’s fourth great-grandmother and her children and grandchildren from slavery. This discovery led Franklin to define his mission, “To Bend the Arc of History Towards Justice” by sharing the story of his ancestors and other stories like them. In his presentation to the Orange County Estate Planning Council on January 25, 2022, Franklin recounted the riveting story of his ancestor Lucy Sutton and the fight in the courts to uphold the last will and testament, and he also profiled several other black women, contemporaries of Lucy, who just may have helped Lucy and her family make it to freedom.”