Meet Black History Month’s Founding Father
Written by Natalie Jenkins. Edited by Yasmeen Mayes.
Black History. Depending on who you are and what your background is, those words might carry a variety of meanings. For the 13-year-old girl who is the only person of color in her class, it means being seen. For the young man who witnesses his community struggling to make ends meet day to day, it means celebrating resilience and overlooked brilliance. Though Black History Month arrives each and every year, and we have special projects in school or programming at work, for many, the name “Carter G. Woodson” is unfamiliar.
Born on December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Virginia, Carter G. Woodson is hailed as the “Father of Black History” and has dedicated his life to the past contributions of African Americans. Today, he might be proud to know the significance of his own lasting contributions to our culture and society. Who would have thought that a young boy who barely had time to attend school because he worked to help his family would grow up to be a respected educator, author, historian, leader, and founder of “Negro History Week” which is now recognized as Black History Month.
Woodson’s parents Anne and James were former slaves and unable to read or write themselves, his father working as a carpenter. Their family was large and they did not have many means, so it was necessary for Woodson to contribute to their wellbeing by working as a sharecropper on the farm. Though this prevented him from attending school regularly, he was motivated to learn and taught himself basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.
When he moved to Huntington, West Virginia in pursuit of more opportunity and access to education, Woodson worked as a miner at Fayette County coalfields. It wasn’t until 1895 at age 20 that he was able to attend Douglass High School, one of very few Black high schools at that time. He graduated from Douglass in two years’ time and would eventually return in 1900 as the principal. This was the start of an extensive, and impressive, academic journey.
After completing his studies at Douglas High School, Woodson earned his first degree from Berea College in Kentucky. During his educational quest, he also became a world traveler, working in the Philippines as a school supervisor from 1903 to 1907 and explored Europe and Asia. Woodson studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris and later earned his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1908. Perhaps one of the most astonishing moments of his education was when Woodson became the second African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University, W.E.B. Du Bois was the first.
Woodson immersed himself in his love for history during his academic career and strongly believed that “those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” He noticed a blatant gap in the education system when it came to the contributions of Black Americans in society: Most people were not aware of their roles or impact. Woodson went on to establish significant institutions and associations in the name of educating the masses on the life and history of African Americans. In 1915, he established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc.) with several friends, and in 1916 he worked on one of the oldest learned journals in our nation, the Journal of Negro History. Woodson also published the Negro History Bulletin for the first time in 1937.
Woodson connected with schools and the public to officially establish Negro History Week in 1926, which we now celebrate as Black History Month. His bigger vision, though, was that eventually there would be no need for a Negro History week, month, or even year. He hoped that there would be a day when the role of African Americans would be accepted as part of the whole of American History, not a special subset.
Woodson was an educator through and through, and his legacy did not stop with the impactful organizations and initiatives that he led. In addition to teaching in the public school system and at universities, Woodson poured into scholars and trained young researchers in his field. He even acted as the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Head of the Graduate Faculty at Howard University from 1919 to 1920. Woodson also wrote more than 30 books in his lifetime, the most popular being The Mis-Education of the Negro, published in 1933.
A trailblazer, by all means, Woodson was completely committed to his mission of elevating the story of Black people in America. His publishing company, the Associated Publishers, Inc., accepted work from Black men and women that most publications at the time would reject. Woodson also openly accepted the contributions and input from his women counterparts while most scholars at the time did not. Mary McLeod Bethune was elected the President of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1936.
Whether you were familiar with the “Father of Black History’’ for some time now, or are just learning about his life today, you can agree that his life’s work made a monumental impression on the way we celebrate and acknowledge the culture and story of Black Americans. Woodson passed in 1950, but his legacy lives on.
We still have long strides to take before we see the day where there is no need for Black History Month, but I for one am encouraged to know that what started as seven days in February has grown beyond where it began. Let us cherish our own history and devote our time to learning more about the significant contributions Black Americans, like Carter G. Woodson, made and dedicated their lives to.
This is the first article in an eight-part Black History Month series, Celebrating our Past, Present, and Future featured in the publication The Chronicles of Black History and Culture.
