Carter G. Woodson is widely considered the “Father of Black History.”

Who he was

  • Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 in Virginia to parents who had been enslaved, and he had very limited access to formal schooling in his early years.
  • He eventually earned a PhD in history from Harvard University, becoming one of the first African Americans to do so.

Why he’s called the “Father of Black History”

  • Woodson dedicated his career to studying and teaching African American history at a time when it was largely excluded from schools and public life.
  • In 1915, he helped found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now ASALH) to promote serious scholarship on Black history.
  • He started The Journal of Negro History in 1916 to publish research on Black experiences and achievements.
  • In 1926, Woodson created “Negro History Week,” choosing February to align with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass; this later expanded into Black History Month, first officially recognized nationwide in 1976.

Lasting impact today

  • Institutions, educators, and cultural organizations still describe Woodson as the “Father of Black History” or the “Father of Black History Month” because his work laid the foundation for today’s Black History Month observances.
  • His core idea—that you cannot tell an honest story of America without fully including Black people—continues to guide how Black history is taught and discussed in schools, museums, and media.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.