Carter G. Woodson was born to formerly enslaved parents and worked as a coal miner and labourer in his youth before completing his education, eventually earning a PhD in history from Harvard University in 1912 — only the second Black American to do so, after W.E.B. Du Bois.
Deeply concerned that American history as taught in schools and universities almost entirely ignored or misrepresented Black contributions, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, dedicated to researching and publicising accurate Black history.
In 1926, Woodson established Negro History Week, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The observance was designed to ensure Black history received dedicated attention in schools that otherwise omitted it entirely.
Negro History Week steadily grew in adoption across schools and communities throughout the twentieth century, and in 1976 was formally expanded into the month-long observance now known as Black History Month. Woodson's insistence that Black history deserved rigorous scholarly study, decades before it was widely accepted, earned him lasting recognition as 'the Father of Black History.'
- Founded Negro History Week in 1926, the direct precursor to Black History Month
- Earned a PhD in history from Harvard University in 1912, one of the first Black Americans to do so
- Founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
- Published The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933), a landmark work of educational critique
- Widely known as "the Father of Black History" for his foundational scholarly contributions
- Institutional gaps require institutional solutions. Woodson founded an entire scholarly association specifically to fill a void mainstream academia ignored.
- A modest annual observance can grow into permanent recognition. Negro History Week eventually became the month-long Black History Month.
- Rigorous scholarship is itself a form of advocacy. His academic credentials lent authority to his insistence that Black history mattered.
- Education can be both liberating and, if done poorly, harmful. His Mis-Education of the Negro argued schooling itself could reinforce oppression if not done thoughtfully.