December 19 - Happy Birthday, Carter G. Woodson

nPosted on December 19, 2018

Key Points

“The Father of Black History”!

nWow!

nBorn on this date in 1875, in Virginia, you might realize that Carter G. Woodson was born free – because he was born about a decade after slavery was (FINALLY!!!!) abolished in the U.S. But he was born to a large poor family, and both of his parents were former slaves.

nLike many other former slaves, Woodson’s parents hoped that their kids would have access to more education than they’d had, and they moved the family to West Virginia when they head that a high school was being built for African Americans.

nStill, Woodson only got to attend school some of the time. He had to help out with his family and, when he was older, work in the coal fields. He learned a lot on his own when he could squeeze in some time for reading and studying.

nFinally, when he was 20 years old, Woodson was able to enter high school and earn his diploma in less than two years. Then he began teaching and even became a principal at age 25!

nAnd Woodson took college classes part-time – earned his Bachelor’s degree – became a school supervisor in the Philippines – went to a more prestigious university – and – and – and –

nAnd he earned a PhD from Harvard in 1912. He was the second African American to receive a doctorate (W.E.B. DuBois was the first).

nHe did research on and wrote about black history in the United States, and he was one of the first people to do so. He not only wrote books, he began a scholarly journal about black history – and it still exists today – and he promoted Negro History Week, which later evolved to be Black History Month.

nWoodson was also an activist who worked with the NAACP for a while and agitated for inclusion of black history in the regular history curriculum of high schools and colleges.