Carter G. Woodson (December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950) The son of an enslaved African, Carter G. Woodson was born in New Canton, Virginia is the reason for Black History Month. His father helped Union soldiers during the Civil War, and moved his family to West Virginia when he heard that Huntington was building a high school for blacks. Coming from a large, poor family, Carter could not regularly attend school. Through self-instruction, Woodson mastered the fundamentals of common school subjects by age 17. He began high school at the age of 20 and he received his diploma in less than two years. He then proceeded to study at Berea College, the University of Chicago, the Sorbonne, and Harvard University, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1912. He recognized and acted upon the importance of a people having an awareness and knowledge of their contributions to humanity. Dr. Woodson is known as the Father of Black History. Carter G Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 to train Black historians and to collect, preserve, and publish documents on Black life and Black people. He also founded the Journal of Negro History (1916). He spent his life working to educate all people about the vast contributions made by Black men and women throughout history. After earning a doctoral degree, he continued teaching in the public schools, later joining the faculty at Howard University as a professor and served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. After leaving Howard University because of differences with its president, Dr. Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research. He worked to preserve the history of African Americans and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. He noted that African American contributions "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them." He concluded that the history books were written to conclude that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind. In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week", for the second week in February, to coincide with marking the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The week was later extended to the full month of February and renamed Black History Month as we know it today. At the time Carter G. Woodson argued that the teaching of black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race within broader society. "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization"
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