Franklin studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, completing his work there in 1946. He also studied at school of the Museo Nacional, Mexico City, on a fellowship awarded in 1942; and having received the 1948-49 Prix de Rome in sculpture, at the American Academy in Rome. His first one-man show occurred at the Providence Art Club in 1941.
While maintaining an active role as a practicing sculptor, Franklin has been notably involved in education. He taught at San Jose (California) State College in the mid-1940s, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950-51, and at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, the following year. In 1956 he joined the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design as professor of sculpture, adding the responsibilities of dean of fine arts in 1978, and becoming a RISDI professor emeritus on his retirement in 1985. He held artist-in-residence appointments at the American Academy in Rome, 1962-63, and 1965-66; and at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1975. Franklin has chaired the American Academy in Rome's selection committee in sculpture, and from 1973 to 1979, and was a trustee of that institution from 1975 to 1980. He was appointed to the board of overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts for 1976, and to the Boston University board of overseers for the department of fine arts, in 1980.
Among Franklin's major public sculptures are a heroic bronze of Abraham Lincoln executed for the Harvey Trust, the Orpheus Ascending fountain for the Frazier Memorial, and a heroic bronze group for Providence College, all in Providence; the Harry S. Truman Memorial, Independence, Missouri; and a fountain for the Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, Missouri. In more intimate scale, he has created the Rhode Island Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts; the Rhode Island Arts Council Medal; and the Truman Award.
