It's February! The one month on the calendar when African-American heritage is celebrated every year and we owe it all to one man because he brought Black history awareness to the forefront. Founded in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month was originally known as Negro History Week. February became the chosen month in 1976, because both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born in February.
Known as the "Father of Black History," Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the son of a slave born on December 19, 1875 in Canton, New Virginia. In 1895 at age 20, Woodson began his high school studies and received his diploma in less than two years. Afterward, he went on to pursue his college career at Berea College where he earned a Bachelor degree in Literature and the University of Chicago were he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. In 1912, Woodson became the second African-American to earn his Ph.D. at Harvard University where he studied history (W.E.B. Dubois, another prominent Black scholar was the first). Woodson was a member of the Black fraternity Omega Psi Phi.
In 1915 Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Study of African-American Life and History). He trained Black historians and collected, preserved and published documents on Black people and Black life. In 1916 he founded the Journal of Negro History. He also founded the Associated Publishers in 1922 and the Negro Bulletin in 1937. Woodson loved education so much he was the Dean of the West Virginia Collegiate Institue from 1920-1922, now West Virginia State University.
Dr. Woodson dedicated his life to educating people of all races and nationalities. He felt it was important that everyone knew about the many, wonderful contributions Black women and Black men have made throughout our history. Dr. Carter G. Woodson died on April 3, 1950. He left us with his legacy, Black History Month, and I Thank him for that.
Let's keep his legacy alive and continue to educate those who don't know how wonderful Black people are and the accomplishments and achievements we have made.. not just this month but every month. Today's youth need to know NOW, more than ever.. where they came from, who's they are and who they can become. It took someone like Dr. Carter G. Woodson to step up so we could learn our Black history, we all can be like Dr. Carter G. Woodson and step up so the next generation can learn their Black history.
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