Carter G. Woodson was an American historian, author, and journalist, and is often credited as being “The Father of Black History.” Woodson was the second African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard and he dedicated his career to the field of African American history. He fought extensively to establish Black History Month as a nationwide institution with the goal of highlighting African American historical contributions, recognizing that Black history is American history.
Woodson believed that young African Americans were not being taught enough of their own heritage and the achievements of their ancestors, which led him to co-found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). He took initiative in spreading the celebration of black heritage in 1926 when he sent out a press release announcing the first Negro History Week. He chose February because the month contained the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two prominent men in African American history. The program was later expanded and renamed Black History Month. Woodson was the first to open the long-neglected field of black studies and recognize the impact of black historical figures on American culture. As he once stated, “What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”