Father of Black History Month!
Carter Godwin Woodson was born in in December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia. [1] was an African American historian, author, journalist and the founder of Black History Month. He is considered the first to conduct a scholarly effort to popularize the value of Black History. He recognized and acted upon the importance of a people having an awareness and knowledge of their contributions to humanity and left behind an impressive legacy. He was a member of the first black fraternity Sigma Pi Phi and a member of Omega Psi Phi as well.
Black History Month
After retiring from Howard University, Dr. Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research, and to preserving the history of African Americans, whose contributions, he noted, ''were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them,'' [2]. Race prejudice, he concluded, ''is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind,'' [3] In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of ''Negro History Week'', for the second week in February, in order to coincide with the birthday celebrations for Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass [4]. The week was later extended to become Black History Month to the entire month of February
Knowledge is Power !
Carter Godwin Woodson was born in in December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia. [1] was an African American historian, author, journalist and the founder of Black History Month. He is considered the first to conduct a scholarly effort to popularize the value of Black History. He recognized and acted upon the importance of a people having an awareness and knowledge of their contributions to humanity and left behind an impressive legacy. He was a member of the first black fraternity Sigma Pi Phi and a member of Omega Psi Phi as well.
Black History Month
After retiring from Howard University, Dr. Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research, and to preserving the history of African Americans, whose contributions, he noted, ''were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them,'' [2]. Race prejudice, he concluded, ''is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind,'' [3] In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of ''Negro History Week'', for the second week in February, in order to coincide with the birthday celebrations for Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass [4]. The week was later extended to become Black History Month to the entire month of February
Knowledge is Power !
