The Father of Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson, was born in1875 near New Canton, VA. He was the son of former slaves. In 1907, he obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. Woodson was the second African American, after W. E. B. Du Bois, to be awarded a doctorate in history from Harvard and the first person of enslaved parents to receive a PhD in history.
While attending the Exposition of Negro Progress in Chicago in 1915, which was organized to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The same year, Woodson established the Journal of Negro History, to give scholars, primarily African Americans and whites who wrote about black history, a vehicle in which to publish their research.
Dr. Woodson developed an audience for his journal and books by traveling around the country and lecturing to African American organizations and institutions, women’s clubs, fraternal associations, and civic groups. He also held annual meetings of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and worked with schoolteachers and boards of education to promote the study of African American history.
In 1921 he created the Associated Publishers, which was dedicated to issuing books by African American authors. In 1922 his overview of the black experience, The Negro in Our History, was published. And in 1926 he orchestrated the annual celebration of Negro History Week in February, held in connection with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the celebration was extended to a month.
Dr. Woodson would go on to write more than a dozen books over the years, including A Century of Negro Migration (1918), The History of the Negro Church (1921), and Mis-Education of the Negro (1933). Mis-Education—with its focus on the Western indoctrination system and African-American self-empowerment—is a particularly noted work and has become regularly course adopted by college institutions.
Dr. Woodson died on April 3, 1950, a respected and honored figure who received accolades for his vision. His legacy continues on, with Black History Month being a national cultural force recognized by a variety of media formats, organizations and educational institutions.