Person Spotlight: Carter G Woodson

To better understand why we celebrate Black History Month, learn a little about Carter G Woodson, the man commonly known as "The Father of Black History".

Image Courtesy of Ancella Bickley Collection, West Virginia State Archives

 Woodson was born in 1875 in Virginia, he worked hard at academics and completed high school in just two years. He then attended Berea College in Kentucky and then worked for the U.S. government as an education superintendent in the Philippines. Woodson returned to the United States and earned his bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Chicago and went on to receive a doctorate from Harvard University in 1912—becoming the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from the prestigious institution, after W.E.B. Du Bois. 

 After finishing his education, Woodson dedicated himself to the field of African-American history, working to make sure that the subject was taught in schools and studied by scholars. For his efforts, Woodson is often called the "Father of Black History." He penned several books but is perhaps most known for the publication of 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.