The Birth Of Black History Month

“I am ready to act, if I can find brave men to help me.” 

-Dr. Carter G. Woodson

If I could meet Dr. Carter G. Woodson, I would thank him for having the moxie to, nationally, raise our country’s awareness about the significant contributions African Americans made toward society. To a larger degree, he did not realize he would be gracefully recognized like those he admired. 

Dr. Woodson was born into slavery on December 19,1875 in West Virginia. Although he could not attend school early in his childhood due to poverty, the determined Woodson taught himself the basics until he was 17 years old.  At the age of 20, in 1895, he enrolled in high school and graduated two years later. Fourteen years after obtaining his diploma, in 1912, he became the second African American to earn his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Once he completed his graduate studies, Dr. Woodson noticed the lack of distinguished African Americans presented in our “history books.”

Eager to change this historical account,   Dr. Woodson, in 1915, created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and in 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week as an effort to elevate our national consciousness to the notable efforts African Americans demonstrated throughout the country. 

He decided to place this celebration in February as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln (born in February 12, 1809) and Fredrick Douglass (born in February 20,1818) because of their positive and seismic influences on African Americans. 

As African Americans have shown through out history, change happens from thinking big ideas, communicating big ideas, and staying persistence with those big ideas. If our young minds understand and connect these three themes once this month is complete, our celebrations will be time well-spent.


-Rodney S. Lewis, Ed.D.