Woodson received his high school diploma at the age of 22 and
went on to get a master's degree in history from the University of Chicago. In 1912, Woodson received a doctorate in history
from Harvard.
Unable to land a teaching post at the elite university because
Harvard wasn't hiring black professors, Woodson went to teach at one of the nation's leading black colleges, Howard University.
In 1915, Woodson became the director of the Association for
the Study of Negro Life and History. A year later he was named editor of the association's scholarly quarterly, "The Journal
of Negro History."
Woodson believed the study of black history, using the tools
of scholarly research and writing, could serve a dual purpose. It could be used to counter white racial chauvinism, which
was used to rationalize the oppression of black people in America.
The distortions and deletions in the American historical record
as it pertains to race matters, Woodson believed, was detrimental to the health of a nation whose inherent promise is life,
liberty and justice for all.
Perhaps more importantly, Woodson knew that in a society where
black intelligence and moral worth is incessantly demeaned and devalued, studying black history would serve as a psychological
defense shield for black students against the assaults of white supremacy.
So he embarked on a quest to establish a national celebration
of black heritage. In 1926, Negro History Week was born.
"Besides building self-esteem among blacks, (Black History Week)
would help eliminate prejudice among whites," Woodson concluded.
It wasn't until after the civil rights movement of the 1960s
that Black History Week was taken seriously outside of the educated black community and expanded into Black History Month.
February was chosen as Black History Month because the birthdays
of the esteemed black abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the celebrated black poet Langston Hughes fall during that month.
It's also the month the NAACP was founded. It just so happens that February is the shortest and one of the coldest months
of the year.
So how come there is no official White History Month? In the
words of a Tulane University Black History Month Web site, "a White History Month is not needed because the contributions
of whites are already acknowledged by society. Black History Month is meant to remedy this inequity of representation."
Of course, if standard U.S. history curriculum did a better
job of teaching both the tragic and triumphant aspects of the expansion of democratic freedoms on this continent and its inextricable
link to Americans of black African descent, then a Black History Month would be wholly unnecessary.
But when educated Americans at the dawn of the 21st century
make statements like: My grandparents were immigrants who faced discrimination and made it. Why can't blacks? All societies
had slaves. Besides, some blacks were sold into slavery by black Africans -- it's clear to anyone familiar with the history
of white-skin privilege in America that Black History Month has not outlived its usefulness.
This isn't to deny the importance of individual initiative or
to lay a guilt-trip on white brothers and sisters for every failure in the black community. On the other hand, black social
mobility, (or lack thereof) cannot be understood without understanding the devastating impact of not only two centuries of
slavery but a hundred years of organized, state-supported attacks on "free" black communities after slavery.
For sure, there have been many blacks who have overcome the
odds, which is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. But those blacks who have "succeeded" did so in spite of
white-skin privilege; not because of it.
Instead of asking why can't blacks make it -- a grossly imprecise
question that ignores the significant achievements of thousands of African-Americans -- we'd do better to ask: what obstacles
have impeded the economic, political and social development of many black Americans? To candidly answer that complex question,
the study of black history is inescapable.
More About Black History Month
It is because of Dr. Woodson's hard work that we observe Black History
Month each year.
Carter G. Woodson was born on December 19, 1875 in New Canton, Virginia.
His parents were former slaves.
As a boy, Woodson was not able to attend school regularly because his parents
needed him to help with the work on the farm, Woodson's family was large and very poor,
Young Carter Woodson did not let anything keep him from learning. He went
to school when he could. When he had to stay home and work on the farm, he taught himself. When he was seventeen, he knew
the subjects that were taught in public school. He was mostly self-taught.
Woodson wanted more education. He worked as a coal miner in Kentucky to
pay for his higher education. Later when he was qualified, he taught grade school and later, high school students. During
his summer vacations Woodson continued his education.
Carter Woodson was a good student. He was educated at Berea College in
Kentucky. He later went to the University of Chicago where he earned his BA, or Bachelor of Arts in 1907 and his MA or Master
of Arts degree in 1908. He earned his Ph.D. or Doctor of Philosophy degree at Harvard University in 1912. He also studied
at the Sorbonne in Paris.
In 1915, Carter Woodson started the Association for the study of Negro
Life and History (ASNLH). He began the Association to help Black historians uncover the history of the Black man in Africa
and in America.
White historians had changed the history of the Black man. White historians
had made up untruths about the Black man so that White people, would believe that slavery was right to enslave the Black man.
The untruths written by White historians made many Blacks believe that
they had no history. Many black people were ashamed of their race because of these untruths.
Dr. Woodson felt it was important for Black people to know their history
and to have pride in their race. He felt that race prejudice grew from the idea than Black people were inferior to White people,
The truth about Black history would stop the spread of racial prejudice.
Dr. Woodson said Blacks should be proud of their African ancestors. The
African had taught the modern world trial by jury, music by stringed instruments, the domestication of the sheep and the cow,
and the use of iron.
