today as a rule we take notice only on the undesirable neighborhoods and ignore those the last remains of fine public the Association for the study of Negro life and history science by scientific investigation at the record of the Negro is not too useful by creating an arsenal of scholarship to combat the lie that African Americans had no history Carter Godwin Woodson known as the father of Black History Month would begin to break the barriers of prejudice that would enlighten generations to come Woodson was born in 1875 in New Kent in Virginia the 5th of James and Ann Eliza Woodsen's nine children as the son of former slaves Woodson grew up extremely poor working on his family's farm and attending school only a few months out of the year in 1892 which enjoined the large migration of African Americans to West Virginia to work in the coal mines there he met Oliver Jones an intellectually curious Civil War veteran who operated a tea room for black miners since Woodson was literate Jones urged him to read a wide variety of publications aloud in the shop in exchange for food having engaged in discussions about the history of the race Woodson claimed it was one of the most enlightening experiences of his life in 1895 Woodson enrolled in Douglass high school in Huntington West Virginia completing his studies within a year Woodson would go on to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1912 in addition to his degrees from Berea College and the University of Chicago he remains the first and only person born to former slaves to obtain a PhD in the field of history Woodson traveled to Africa Asia and Europe teaching in the Philippines and studying at the Sorbonne having been taught throughout his schooling that African Americans had no history Woodson would devote his life to challenging the narrative his exhaustive research would lay the foundation for African American Studies to this day his writings are meticulous he believed in scientific research at a time when many stories were not using it much a bunch of the fault we find in distorting black history came from professors who taught history they had and they had an agenda and and often it was it was entirely wrong Woodson published almost twenty books over his lifetime covering a broad range of topics in african-american history but he knew that to legitimize the contributions of african-americans he would need to reach beyond the scholars in September 1915 at the Wabash YMCA in Chicago Woodson created the Association for the study of Negro life in history now known as the Association for the study of african-american life in history or assala the organization would become an outlet to educate the world about black history magazine research the Negro History your expertise in clubs in school promotes the home study the Negro by mail produces texts from the Negro for schools and colleges collects and preserves dependable documents of Negro history surprise library lives with special collections of rare books on the Negro and educates promising and enterprising young men for service in historical research Woodson also established the Journal of Negro History a scholarly journal where black and white intellectuals could publish their studies the journal also provided a medium to publish little-known primary documents on African American history it must be noted that Woodson sought to launch a movement to legitimize African American history during an era of overt racism and mob violence yet Woodson believed that education was the catalyst needed to bring about social change and destroy the racist beliefs so what doctor wasn't did was he was debunking the lies about us so they were literally proving our humanity when he was building up these resources and documenting the truth about our history and he was talking to real people who had done the work there's only one history and all ethnic groups all races chapters within that history a few people thought like that before was he he wasn't seeking any kind of superiority he just wanted people to be equal and once you know about each other you're not holding their differences against them you are respecting them more to me that's freaky Woodson briefly returned to academia in 1919 serving as a Dean at both Howard University and West Virginia Collegiate Institute however Woodson who was deemed radical for insisting on textbook revisions to incorporate african-american history often clashed with administrators and other scholars by 1922 he would return from West Virginia to Washington DC and devote himself full-time to conducting research and publishing prolifically that same year Woodson purchased a home that would serve as his residence and headquarters of the Association for the rest of his life here he would create his own publishing house associated publishers to print material on african-american history ignored by others and generate an income for himself the climate of the 1920s brought new interest in black history movements in that decade such as the Harlem Renaissance created a heightened sense of racial consciousness among African American Woodson was educating people of their heritage one of which they could be proud his home office became a community focal point in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington DC black intellectuals activists writers and artists flocked to his home in support of the movement there Woodson also trained a new generation of scholars while his protege had immense respect for his passion and selfless dedication to the cause Woodson's exacting personality often made him difficult to work with he expected others to work as hard as he did and would clash with those who did not share his vision and so in Woodson he could you could be very blunt he could be very direct and a lot of and very opinionated in many ways and so african-american and white audiences like didn't always appreciate that but that was wood and he was a perfectionist you everything they went that office had to be perfect and once we were typing and we had typed about 300 letters and he found out that one word was I need it wrong we had to do those three by the 1930s Woodson would become more publicly outspoken in 1933 he published his seminal work the mis-education of the negro a scathing critique of systemic racism and education and of blacks who would not challenge it the book would become a manifesto for generations of african-american activists advocating radical social change Woodson expanded his public presence by giving speeches and writing articles and columns and newspapers he engaged teachers clergymen fraternal groups and black civic leaders to reach the masses committed to teaching people at all levels of education he created the Negro History Bulletin in 1937 The Bulletin told the stories of the near-great and was aimed primarily for the general black community for Woodson history belonged to everyone and it was too important to be left to the scholars he would create Negro History Week to ensure that the rich history of African Americans would be taught worldwide the week-long celebration during the second week in February in honor of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln would later evolve to Black History Month it remains today as one of Woodsen's most lasting legacies Woodson died in 1950 on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement his pioneering efforts to preserve and publicize the historical heritage of black Americans would prove essential in the struggle for equality by institutionalizing the study of african-american history Carter G would sin begin to break down the barriers of racial prejudice and hate and transform minds to this day he gave us each our understanding of the United States by showing us that african-americans contributed mightily to this nation but all this has happened because heed our truth to light [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]