2008 Woodie Awards
Young scholar launches black history movement
February chosen for several significant historical achievements
Kelli Kennon
Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: Feature
After spending most of his young adulthood working in a Kentucky coal mine, Carter Woodson probably never thought he would go to high school at age 20. He did. Woodson probably never guessed he would earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. He did. No one probably thought Woodson would eventually establish two associations for equal rights and launch a movement that would recognize one race for an entire month.
Woodson was an African American man who founded Negro History Week, which we know today as Black History Month.
After completing high school in two years, Woodson began his studies at Harvard, where he found blacks were hardly ever mentioned in history books. Acting upon his concerns, in 1915 Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which is now known as the Association of Afro-American Life and History. One year later he founded the Journal of Negro History.
Over a decade later in 1926, Woodson launched Negro History Week in effort to recognize influential individuals in black history throughout the United States.
Although Woodson originally chose February because of the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, there were already a large number of black, historical events in the month.
They include: Civil rights leader W.E.B. Dubois, was born, the 15th Amendment was passed, Hiram R. Revels became the first black senator, the NAACP was founded in New York City and Malcolm X, a militant leader, was killed.
Woodson was an African American man who founded Negro History Week, which we know today as Black History Month.
After completing high school in two years, Woodson began his studies at Harvard, where he found blacks were hardly ever mentioned in history books. Acting upon his concerns, in 1915 Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which is now known as the Association of Afro-American Life and History. One year later he founded the Journal of Negro History.
Over a decade later in 1926, Woodson launched Negro History Week in effort to recognize influential individuals in black history throughout the United States.
Although Woodson originally chose February because of the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, there were already a large number of black, historical events in the month.
They include: Civil rights leader W.E.B. Dubois, was born, the 15th Amendment was passed, Hiram R. Revels became the first black senator, the NAACP was founded in New York City and Malcolm X, a militant leader, was killed.