Black History Month is a time to celebrate the contributions of Black people in the nation’s history. The founder of Black History Month was Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950), known as the father of Black history and the second Black person to receive Ph.D. from Harvard University. While growing up on his family’s farm in Virginia, Woodson’s enslaved uncles taught him in a one-room schoolhouse. Before high school, he worked in coal mines alongside formerly enslaved men and Civil War veterans who were illiterate. Woodson came to understand the importance of education and the knowledge gained from Black people’s lived experiences, which should be both preserved and celebrated.
As a scholar and educator, Woodson wrote many influential books including “The Mis-Education of the Negro” published in 1933 and “African Heroes and Heroines” published in 1944. His critique of the American school system for the various forms of violence inflicted upon Black people and inequality to access is still very relevant. He also wrote on the rich history of Africa and African American life to educate teachers and the public about the myriad contributions of Black people.
Before Woodson created Negro History Week in 1926, many Black teachers were already celebrating the birthdays of various figures such as Frederick Douglass, who was born in February. Woodson offered an institutional structure with materials that could be disseminated across Black schools. The week was eventually expanded to a month-long celebration starting in 1976.
You can read more about Carter G. Woodson in the Harvard Gazette, in a recent interview with Jarvis Givens, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Suzanne Young Murray Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
The image is the cover of “African Heroes and Heroines”, a part of FAL’s Digital Images and Slides Collection (DISC), a collection of images digitized from secondary sources for use in teaching and learning. FAL does not own the original artworks represented in this collection, but you can find more information at HOLLIS Images.
Cover for Carter Woodson's African Heroes and Heroines Author / Creator Jones, Lois Mailou, American and African American artist, 1905-1998 [artist] Production: Washington D.C.: Associated Publishers, 1939 Woodson, Carter Godwin, American historian, 1875-1950 Repository: Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States HOLLIS number: 8001690410