By Don Valentine
Dr. Woodson was born in 1875 to illiterate former slaves. Like most of his contemporaries he had to work as a child to help his poor family survive. Working in the West Virginia coal mines delayed, but did not prevent, his high school education. He enrolled in high school when he was 20 and graduated in less than two years. He picked up unforgettable lessons in history and economics from Oliver Jones, a fellow miner. Mr. Jones would invite colleagues to his house to purchase ice cream and watermelon. Although Jones was illiterate, he subscribed to many publications and would discuss the latest events with his colleagues. When he discovered that Dr. Woodson could read, Jones asked him to read the information in the daily newspapers in exchange for free snacks. This blessing let him increase his learning through the oral history shared by his colleagues. Dr. Woodson became fluent in many topics, such as the gold standard, tariffs, and free trade, according to the University of Chicago Magazine. He is quoted in the magazine, “Never stop learning and growing. Use every experience as a learning opportunity.”
Dr. Woodson received a bachelor’s degree in 1903 from Berea College in Kentucky. At the University of Chicago, he received a second bachelor’s and a master’s degree in 1908. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912—the second Black man, after W.E.B. Du Bois, to do so. From 1903 to 1907, when he was 28 years old, Woodson worked as a teacher in the Philippines. The last year he spent traveling around the world. The Chicago Southsider noted he said, “Don’t be afraid to change your environment.” Dr Woodson was Webster’s definition of an erudite scholar.
His copious knowledge of history led to the start of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) The mission of ASLAH was to research and promote information about Black history. Dr Woodson devoted his life to presenting Black history in a fact based nonbiased form. Biography.com chronicled, “Woodson lobbied schools and organizations to participate in a special program to encourage the study of African American history, which began in February 1926 with Negro History Week. The program was later expanded and renamed Black History Month.” He favored February for the initial weeklong celebration to honor the birth months of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln.
Dr. Woodson was a renowned writer of Black history, and wrote over 14 books on Black history and culture. The list includes The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933), A Century of Negro Migration (1918), The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 (1919), The History of the Negro Church (1921), and The Negro in Our History (1922).
The significance of “Lost Black History” is captured in these words, “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”
― Carter G. Woodson