Carter G. Woodson

From the Program for the Dedication of the
Carter G. Woodson Historical Marker
July 29, 2003

This Historical Highway Marker is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Carter Woodson, is recognized nationally as the "Father of Black History." Dr. Woodson's accomplishments as an author and lecturer are credited with saving American Black history from oblivion. Woodson was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1875. In 1895, he with his family moved to Huntington, West Virginia. His father, a former slave, worked on the crew that built the C & O Railway shops in Huntington. Carter Woodson graduated from Douglass High School in 1896; he obtained a teaching certificate from Berea College; and he taught and acted as principal of Douglass High School from 1900-1903. After 1903, Carter Woodson left Huntington. He obtained bachelor and master degrees from the University of Chicago. In 1912, when Dr. Woodson received his doctorate degree in history, he became the second Black to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He served as dean of Howard University's School of Liberal Arts and West Virginia Collegiate Institute West Virginia State College. In 1915, Dr. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He published many books and articles during his lifetime including The Negro in History. He founded in 1916 and edited the Journal of Negro History. In 1984, Woodson was commemorated on an U.S. postage stamp. Dr. Carter G. Woodson died April 3, 1950, concluding a lifetime of contributions to education and history.

African Americans