What african american earned a Ph.D from Harvard University then set out to make everyone aware of the history

Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History








In the early days of this century, virtually single-handedly, Carter G. Woodson created a vision of celebrating black history through annual events and a prestigious journal. This article traces the life and career of this pioneering educator.


One of the most inspiring and instructive stories in black history is the story of how Carter G. Woodson, the father of black history, saved himself for the history he saved and transformed.





The skeletal facts of his personal struggle for light and of his rise from the coal mines of West Virginia to the summit of academic achievement are eloquent in and of themselves and can be briefly stated.





At 17, the young man who was called by history to reveal black history was an untutored coal miner. At 19, after teaching himself the fundamentals of English and arithmetic, he entered high (secondary) school and mastered the four-year curriculum in less than two years.





At 22, after two-thirds of a year at Berea College in West Virginia, he returned to the coal mines and studied Latin and Greek between trips to the mine shafts. He then went on to the University of Chicago, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees, and Harvard University, where he became the second black to receive a doctorate in history.