“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”
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Carter G. Woodson
(1875-1950) — Historian, Author, Journalist, Founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
By The Staff
Carter G. Woodson was certain the historical record of the day distorted or omitted the contributions of African-Americans. In 1915, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, an organization dedicated to the study and recognition of the African-American experience.
The father of Negro History Week
Carter was also the architect of Negro History Week, originally celebrated during the second week of February. The observance has evolved into a month long commemoration. A pioneering scholar, historian, journalist, and author, he is often referred to as the father of black history.
The son of former slaves James and Eliza Woodson, Carter was born Dec. 19, 1875. James Woodson moved his family from New Canton, Virginia, to Huntington, West Virginia, upon hearing Huntington was building a school for African-Americans. Unfortunately for young Carter, coming from a poor family and the eldest of nine children, he could not attend school regularly. In those days, young men were expected to work to help support the family. Carter worked as a sharecropper and miner while doing his best to continue his education independently. He mastered basic school subject matter.
Late in his teens, he was able to go back to high school and at age 20 enrolled in Douglass High School. Two years later in 1897, he received his high school diploma. Carter became an instructor in Winona, a community in Fayette County, West Virginia, between 1897 and 1900. He returned to his alma mater, Douglass High School, as the principal in 1900.Taking classes part time between 1901 and 1903, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Literature from Berea College in Kentucky. He traveled to the Philippines between 1903 to 1907 to become a school supervisor.
He attended the University of Chicago in 1908 and received a doctorate in history from Harvard University in 1912, the second African American to earn the doctorate after W.E.B. Du Bois.
When he died, April 3, 1950, Carter was working toward completing the publication of his Encyclopedia Africana. The comprehensive six-volume collection was unfinished at the time of his death. He was 74.
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