Carter G. Woodson
American historian
Died when: 74 years 105 days (891 months)Star Sign: Sagittarius
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Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African diaspora, including African-American history.A founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1916, Woodson has been called the "father of black history".
In February 1926 he launched the celebration of "Negro History Week", the precursor of Black History Month.Woodson was an important figure to the movement of Afrocentrism, due to his perspective of placing people of African descent at the center of the study of history and the human experience.
Born in Virginia, the son of former slaves, Woodson had to put off schooling while he worked in the coal mines of West Virginia.
He graduated from Berea College, and became a teacher and school administrator.He gained graduate degrees at the University of Chicago and in 1912 was the second African American, after W.
E.B.Du Bois, to obtain a PhD degree from Harvard University.Woodson remains the only person whose parents were enslaved in the United States to obtain a History PhD.
He taught at historically black colleges Howard University and West Virginia State University but spent most his career in Washington, DC managing the ASALH, public speaking, writing, and publishing.
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