Emily Bruzzo
Editor-in-Chief

Every U.S. president since 1976 has recognized February as Black History Month, with President Gerald Ford proclaiming about the first official celebration that Americans should “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

It wasn’t a white president, however, who led the charge to honor the extraordinary contributions black Americans have made to American society; instead, it all started with an African American academic, a pioneering academic who rose above the fetters of slavery to exalt the history of a people who make the U.S. exceptional.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of slave parents, is cited by many scholars and historians as the “father of black history.”

Woodson, after having obtained his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1912, joined with the renowned minister Jesse E. Moorland to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in 1915 — an organization now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). A year later, in 1916, Woodson formed the Journal of Negro History, which is a peer-reviewed publication now called the Journal of African American History (JAAH).

Woodson’s was a simple goal: to research and promote the achievements of black Americans. It became much more than that, though. As the NAACP puts it, “[Woodson] believed that Black history — which others have tried so diligently to erase — is a firm foundation for young Black Americans to build on in order to become productive citizens of our society.”

For Woodson, history was a way to look forward, not back. That’s why, in 1926, he began Negro History Week, choosing the second week of February in order for the event to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

The event in 1926 opened the doors to a great American tradition. Negro History Week soon was celebrated across the country, with schools and communities organizing celebrations, lectures, and performances. By the 1960s, it had become commonplace for city mayors nationwide to issue proclamations during the month of February recognizing Negro History Week. With the Civil Rights Movement as a catalyst, college campuses forged the way and expanded Negro History week into Black History Month. And the rest is history.

Academics, scholars and institutions of higher education did their part to formalize this vital and necessary celebration of black history. In this spirit, The Carolinian, too, would like to do its part in paying homage to the remarkable individuals and culture that have made the United States what it is today. We have devoted this issue to the celebration that is Black History Month, and we invite you, our readers, to engage with us in the important dialogue we hope to open about black history and contemporary black culture.

As the NAACP writes, “Dr. Woodson often said that he hoped the time would come when Negro History Week would be unnecessary; when all Americans would willingly recognize the contributions of Black Americans as a legitimate and integral part of the history of this country.”

Let us all come together as a university community, but more importantly as a generation, and see through Carter Woodson’s dream.

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Sources:

Association for the Study of American Life and History. Korey Bowers Brown. “Carter G. Woodson.”

[https://asalh100.org/our-history/carter-g-woodson/]

History.com. “Black History Month.”

[http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month] 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “NAACP History: Carter G. Woodson.”

[http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-Carter-G.-Woodson]

UNCG’s Office of Intercultural Engagement. “Heritage Celebrations.”

[https://oma.uncg.edu/programs/heritage-celebrations]