Carter Woodson

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Woodson was raised in New Canton, Virginia. He was the son of a former slave and one of 9 children. Woodson’s mother secretly learned to read while she was a slave, and taught her children to read as well. When Woodson was twenty, he began attending Frederick Douglass High School while working in a coal mine in West Virginia. The daily conversation of the black Civil War veterans at the mine often focused on interesting historical facts not recorded in history books. It was then that Woodson realized the importance of documenting black contributions to history.

Carter Woodson Pursues an Education
Woodson completed high school in two years, and began attending Berea College in Kentucky. In 1903, he earned his bachelor’s degree. He spent time working and traveling in the Philippines, Asia, Europe, and Africa, while at the same time earning his bachelor’s in European history through a correspondence course at the University of Chicago. He received his second B.A. and a M.A. in 1908. By 1912, he had received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.

Carter Woodson Works to Document Black History
While living in Washington, D.C, Woodson worked as a teacher at a high school until 1917. In 1915, he co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which was renamed the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1976. The purpose of the organization was to publish and fund research and writing projects about black history.

Woodson was so dedicated to the cause that he financed the Association with his personal income from his employment as principal at the Armstrong Manual Training School, and later with his income from Howard University, where he was dean of the school of liberal arts and a professor of history. Woodson was able to resign from Howard and work in the Association full-time after the organization was given substantial financial support from the Carnegie Corporation and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial.

With his full attention given to the Association, Woodson was able to create a successful organization that established a home study program, directed the study of African American history in schools, hired researchers to search the international archives, and lastly, he founded the Associated Publishers, which published books and resources about black history. The Association also published the quarterly publication, the Journal of Negro History, which was distributed throughout the world.

The Importance of Black History to Carter Woodson
Woodson believed that knowledge about black history was essential to battling perceptions about race and was necessary to carry on tradition. “If a race has not worth-while tradition,” wrote Woodson in "Negro History Week" in The Journal of Negro History (Volume 11, No. 2, April 1926), “it becomes a negligible factor . . . and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian leaves no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today?” Thus, for Woodson the documentation of black history was an absolute necessity if blacks wanted inclusion in the record of mankind’s progress.

But for Woodson the necessity of documenting black history was more than just about the recognition of black contributions: it was to wage a battle against racism. Woodson believed that racism was not inherent in human nature, but was a result of the belief that blacks had contributed nothing to mankind. Woodson asserted that as a result, it was inevitable that all achievements would eventually be attributed to one race. Woodson believed that racism could effectively be attacked by educating the public about black contributions.

Carter Woodson’s Publications
Woodson was not just involved in promoting and publishing black history; he was also an author. His work included, The Negro Prior to 1861 (1915), The Negro Church (1921), Negro Makers of History (1928), The Miseducation of the Negro (1933), and The Negro in Our History (1922), which was considered the best textbook about black history.

Carter Woodson Promotes Negro History Week
Woodson is most known for his association with Black History Month. Negro History Week, as it was called by the black fraternity Omega Psi Phi, was a week in February dedicated to celebrating the achievements of blacks. Their celebration was somewhat stagnant until Woodson offered to put the Association’s name behind the idea in February 1926. Through Woodson’s promotion of the celebration in the Journal of Negro History and the creation and distribution of kits for children, Negro History Week gained in popularity. In 1976, it evolved into Black History Month.

On April 3, 1950, Woodson died in Washington, D.C.