In 1996, Cornell University historian Nick Salvatore began a scholarly journey that led him into the life and times of the legendary C. L. Franklin (1915 to 1984), father of Aretha and arguably the greatest African American preacher of his generation. 

Salvatore's findings are stylishly bound within the covers of his latest work, Singing in a Strange Land: C.L. Franklin, the Black Church and the Transformation of America, (Little, Brown and Co.). It is the first full study of Franklin, whose rise to eminence paralleled the rise of the black church as a socio-political force in the growing civil rights movement in America. 

Possessed of a startling oratorical gift, Franklin's "sacred performances" as Salvatore calls them, were enhanced by the man's remarkable singing voice. His personalized "whoop and chant" preaching style revolutionized the form, and 75 of his sermons were recorded live and sold nationally. Salvatore was struck by the artistic talents of the messenger as well as the content of his messages.

"They provided pointed social and political analyses that consciously urged others to discover their voices and to engage in the world about them," writes Salvatore, the Maurice and Hinda Neufeld Founders Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Professor of American Studies at Cornell. They are relevant still, he says. "C.L. Franklin's sermons are useful today in providing another approach in the current debate in the role of religion and its relation to politics."

The arc of Franklin's life, from the Mississippi Delta where he was born to the politically volatile city of Detroit, charts the course of a social phenomenon -- the 20th-century movement of rural southern blacks into northern cities, the emergence of blacks in the trade unions and the upward thrust of an entire population. Salvatore traces Franklin's ascent while describing the back-story of a people on the move, searching for a voice in a strange land.

Several samples of Franklin's speeches can be heard on audio files posted on Salvatore's Web site <http://www.nicksalvatore.com >.

Salvatore is the author of Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist (1982), which received the Bancroft Prize in History and the John H. Dunning Prize, and We All Got History: The Memory Books of Amos Webber (1996), which received the New England History Association's Outstanding Book Prize. Singing in a Strange Land is his third book. 

Securing the trust of the Franklin family was crucial to writing a book informed with dozens of personal interviews. Enter Erma Franklin, Aretha's older sister.

"The Franklins are a prominent family with a lot of connections," said Salvatore. "Erma was insistent in determining that I was not going to write about her father in a sensational or tabloid way. My intention was to write an intelligible, serious book for a broad reading public."

Salvatore's honesty, patience and track record won the day, he recalled. 

"Eventually, Erma said, 'Nick, I trust you. But don't mess with me' -- and we came to an agreement." 

That opened the door to invaluable contacts. Singing in a Strange Land includes 60 interviews and a mountain of primary source material. The book is an unauthorized biography -- informed by the Franklin family but in no way laundered to please anyone but the historian in Salvatore and, hopefully, lots of readers. 

Along the way, Erma Franklin became more than a historian's best friend -- she became Salvatore's close, personal friend. And, along the way, Salvatore found himself eulogizing Erma Franklin in New Bethel Baptist Church, the very church where her father, Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, had preached for a quarter century. She died in 2002. 

On Saturday, Feb. 12, Salvatore will return to New Bethel to give a talk and book signing as part of a month-long book tour.