An inside scoop of Frederick Douglas, W.E.B Dubois, and Carter G Woodson

Rhaczina Simms Contributing Writer

When I think of the African American culture, I think of warmth and vitality: I think of soul, but I also think of strength and endurance. It has been these qualities only given by the most high God to the human mind, body and spirit — which to me, have presumably characterized a great deal of the African American race in being brought and established here within the United States of America. Thus, as to be seen with the inception of Black history month, it was African American minds that were veritably endowed with the qualities thereof that first sought intellectually to expand the awareness on and come to relish in the study of a people’s history that had for a long time been scarcely documented — if not documented at all — and at the time of it’s origin devoid of a due respectable place within the history books of America.

A man born on December 19, 1875 to two former African slaves named Carter G. Woodson would be the man who was initially recognized for the beginning of this process, which had been formerly known by Americans as “Negro history week.” Carter’s roots were poor, and his family also happened to be a large, so it wasn’t possible at the time to attend the high school that was undergoing the process of being built for black students in the city of Huntington, West Virginia when his family had decided to move to the state. But not letting this weigh him down with regard to his ambitions for the future, he through self-instruction, mastered the fundamentals of common school subjects by the age of 17. And by making the decision to take up his own living in Fayette county as a coal miner, also with dedicating but a few months to schooling each year, he finally was able to enter into Douglas High school in 1895 at the age of 20: it was just two years later from that point he had graduated and received his high school diploma. From then on, Woodson took a challenging but brightly colored path toward his success, gleaming with all his academic achievements and the recognition needed to eventually land him in the position as a PhD graduate of history at Harvard University in 1912 — making Carter along with W.E.B Dubois, one of the first African Americans to graduate from Harvard.

Black history month started in the summer of 1915 during the national celebration for the fiftieth year anniversary of emancipation. And Carter G. Woodson, an alumnus at the University of Chicago, left Washington DC to the state of Illinois, to participate as an exhibitor for the showcase of Black history that was to be featured at the Coliseum in the city of Chicago. Even though the republican convention of 1912 was also being held at the Coliseum, thousands of African Americans all around the country had come to view the showcase. What was to be displayed there as Black history, was to show African Americans how far they had come from the destruction of slavery. Consequently, it was the setting of thousands of African Americans that found it important enough and exciting to come and view this display that inspired Carter G. Woodson for the concept of scientific study on African American life and history. It was later on Sep. 9 that Carter met at the Wabash YMCA with A. L. Jackson along with three others to form the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).” Whom thence on went to publish a journal in 1916 entitled the “Journal of Negro history”, and hoped that the findings that he and other black intellectuals contributed to would soon become popularized. He finally in 1926 sent out a press release that “Negro history week” would be held in February. The month of February was chosen because it encompassed the birthdays of two great men, Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas, which people often celebrated and mainly associated for black history. He did this for a chance to build upon this tradition so that an entire race would come into light, revealing all the black men and women in a respectable view rather than just the thought of slaves or two great men for the highlights of black history.