#The Home of Carter G. Woodson
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In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, known as “the father of Black history,” bought the home at 1538 Ninth Street NW for $8,000.Credit...Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, known as “the father of Black history,” bought the home at 1538 Ninth Street NW for $8,000. The home served as the headquarters for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (which is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or A.S.A.L.H.).
It was where he ran the Associated Publishers, the publishing house focused on African American culture and history at a time when many other publishers wouldn’t accept works on the topic. It’s where The Journal of Negro History and The Negro History Bulletin were based, and it’s where he initiated the first Negro History Week — the precursor to Black History Month — in 1926.
“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” Dr. Woodson famously wrote.
The site, owned by the National Park Service, is being restored and will likely be open to visitors starting this fall, a spokesperson for the Park Service said.
“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” Dr. Woodson famously wrote.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Though Dr. Woodson was the kind of neighbor who doted on children playing on the street and his stoop, even as other adults told them to behave, 1538 Ninth Street NW was more about his life’s work than serving as a traditional residence. It became known as Dr. Woodson’s “office home,” as Willie Leanna Miles, who was a managing director of the Associated Publishers, put it in her 1991 article “Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson as I Recall Him, 1943-1950.” The article was published in The Journal of Negro History, which was founded by Dr. Woodson and is still running as The Journal of African American History today.
#The Home of Carter G. Woodson#the Man Behind Black History Month#Dr Carter G Woodson#Black History Month#BHM24#2024#1538 Ninth Street NW DC#The Journal of Negro History#Association for the Study of African American Life and History#A.S.A.L.H#The Negro History Bulletin#Black Historians#Father of Black History Month
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Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was born in Saint-Domingue, Haiti (French colony) during the Haitian Revolution. At some point he settled in the part of North America that is now known as the city of Chicago and was described in historical documents as "a handsome negro" He married a Native American woman, Kitiwaha, and they had two children. In 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, he was arrested by the British on suspicion of being an American Patriot sympathizer. In the early 1780s he worked for the British lieutenant-governor of Michilimackinac on an estate at what is now the city of St. Clair, Michigan north of Detroit. In the late 1700's, Jean-Baptiste was the first person to establish an extensive and prosperous trading settlement in what would become the city of Chicago. Historic documents confirm that his property was right at the mouth of the Chicago River. Many people, however, believe that John Kinzie (a white trader) and his family were the first to settle in the area that is now known as Chicago, and it is true that the Kinzie family were Chicago's first "permanent" European settlers. But the truth is that the Kinzie family purchased their property from a French trader who had purchased it from Jean-Baptiste. He died in August 1818, and because he was a Black man, many people tried to white wash the story of Chicago's founding. But in 1912, after the Great Migration, a plaque commemorating Jean-Baptiste appeared in downtown Chicago on the site of his former home. Later in 1913, a white historian named Dr. Milo Milton Quaife also recognized Jean-Baptiste as the founder of Chicago. And as the years went by, more and more Black notables such as Carter G. Woodson and Langston Hughes began to include Jean-Baptiste in their writings as "the brownskin pioneer who founded the Windy City." In 2009, a bronze bust of Jean-Baptiste was designed and placed in Pioneer Square in Chicago along the Magnificent Mile. There is also a popular museum in Chicago named after him called the DuSable Museum of African American History.
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#Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable#Haitian Revolution#Chicago history#founder of Chicago#black history#Native American wife#Kitiwaha#American Revolutionary War#British arrest#Michilimackinac#St. Clair Michigan#trading settlement#Chicago River#John Kinzie#European settlers#Great Migration#Carter G. Woodson#Langston Hughes#Windy City#bronze bust#Pioneer Square#Magnificent Mile#DuSable Museum#African American history
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February is Black History Month, a time dedicated to honoring and celebrating the essential contributions of Black people in the story of America. National and local events and online celebrations will take place throughout the month to focus attention on Black people's achievements and history.
Since 1976, the US has marked the contributions of Black people and celebrated the history and culture of the Black experience in America every February. Read on to learn more about Black History Month and the ways in which you can participate.
The story of Black History Month
Born as a sharecropper in 1875, Carter G. Woodson went on to become a teacher and the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. He founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915 and eventually became known as the "father of Black history."
On Feb. 7, 1926, Woodson announced the creation of "Negro History Week" to encourage and expand the teaching of Black history in schools. He selected February because the month marks the birthday of the two most famous abolitionists of the time -- Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Feb. 1 is also National Freedom Day, a celebration of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the US.
By the 1940s, schools in Woodson's home state of West Virginia had begun expanding the celebration to a month, and by the 1960s, demands for proper Black history education spread across the country. Kent State's Black United Students proposed the idea of a Black History month in 1969 and celebrated the first event in February 1970. President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976 during the US bicentennial.
The excellent history site BlackPast has a full biography of Carter Woodson and the origins of Black History Month.
Visit a Black or African American history museum
Almost every state in the US has a Black history museum or African American heritage site. The country's first and oldest is the Hampton University Museum in Hampton, Virginia. Like many other museums, it offers a virtual tour and online exhibits.
One of the most famous of these museums is the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The museum, which is located steps away from where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, allows you to sit with Rosa Parks on the bus that inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, among many other powerful exhibits.
African-American heritage sites include historic parks and other significant locations and monuments in Black history. Some of the most popular include Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, the epicenter of US school desegregation. You could also consider visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta.
If there's no museum or heritage site near you, keep an eye out for the Black History Mobile Museum, which traverses the country all month and through the summer. Throughout February you can find the mobile museum in several states, starting in New Jersey on Feb. 1 and making its way through 12 other states. See the full list of 2023 tour dates here.
Learn about Black music history by listening online
Marley Marl and Mr. Magic were superstar rap DJs for WBLS FM in the 1980s. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
From spirituals and blues to the rise of jazz, R&B and hip hop, Black music has been entwined with American culture for centuries.
There are lots of ways to learn about and experience the power of Black American music online. One of the most extensive and free resources is the Black Music History Library, created by Jenzia Burgos. The compendium includes an array of Black music sources, with links to music samples, full recordings and interviews, as well as books and articles.
Another remarkable Black music website is the #312 Soul project. Originally launched as a month-long series on Chicago's Black music from 1955 to 1990, the site publishes original stories from Chicago residents about their personal experiences creating and enjoying Black music.
For snapshots of Black music between 1982 and 1999, check out the Hip Hop Radio Archive, a collection of radio show recordings from commercial, college and independent hip-hop stations. Of particular note are classic radio shows from New York City's WBLS, featuring Rap Attack with Marley Marl and Mr. Magic.
Online streaming music services also curate collections for Black History Month -- Spotify has an extensive collection of Black music in its Black History is Now collection. Tidal and Amazon Music also include special Black music collections on their services.
Support Black-owned businesses and restaurants
Becoming a customer of local Black businesses helps protect livelihoods and supports Black entrepreneurs.
If you aren't sure which businesses in your area are owned and operated by your Black neighbors, several resources can help. Start off by learning how to find Black-owned restaurants where you live.
Several directories have now been created to highlight and promote Black businesses. Official Black Wall Street is one of the original services that list businesses owned by members of the Black community.
Support Black Owned uses a simple search tool to help you find Black businesses, Shop Black Owned is an open-source tool operating in eight US cities, and EatOkra specifically helps people find Black-owned restaurants. Also, We Buy Black offers an online marketplace for Black businesses.
The online boutique Etsy highlights Black-owned vendors on its website -- many of these shop owners are women selling jewelry and unique art pieces. And if you're searching for make-up or hair products, check CNET's own list of Black-owned beauty brands.
Donate to Black organizations and charities
Donating money to a charity is an important way to support a movement or group, and your monetary contribution can help fund programs and pay for legal costs and salaries that keep an organization afloat. Your employer may agree to match employee donations, which would double the size of your contribution -- ask your HR department.
Nonprofit organizations require reliable, year-round funding to do their work. Rather than a lump sum, consider a monthly donation. Even if the amount seems small, your donation combined with others can help provide a steady stream of funds that allows programs to operate.
Here are some non-profit organizations advancing Black rights and equal justice and supporting Black youth:
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Thurgood Marshall College Fund
Color of Change
Black Girls Code
The Black Youth Project
Attend local Black History Month events
Many cities, schools, and local organizations will host events celebrating Black History Month in February 2022. Check your local newspaper or city website to see what events are happening in your area -- for example, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore and Louisville, Kentucky, have extensive events planned this month.
If you can't find anything in your area or don't want to attend events in person, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, is offering a handful of online Black History Month events throughout February.
Watch Black history documentaries and movies
Black is King is an elaborately staged musical directed, written and produced by Beyoncé. Disney
You can find movies and documentaries exploring the Black experience right now on Netflix, Disney Plus and other streaming services.
The CNET staff has compiled a selection of feature films and documentaries for Black History Month 2023, including the wonderful Summer of Soul and Black is King. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu all have special collections of streaming movies and shows for Black History Month.
PBS also offers several free video documentary collections, which include smaller chunks of Black history for all ages. The collections include subjects like the Freedom Riders, the 1963 March on Washington and the Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
Find Black authors and stories for yourself and your children
There are so many great books written by Black authors you should read -- not only during Black History Month but all year round. So, where do we start? Try your local library. Many will have Black History Month collections for both adults and kids.
Libraries will also often have Black History Month book recommendations by age. The San Diego Public Library, the Detroit Public Library and DC Public Library, for example, have programs and collections to browse for adults and children.
Next, try Black booksellers. The Noname Book Club, dedicated to amplifying diverse voices, has compiled a list of Black-owned bookshops across the US. The club also highlights two books a month by writers of color.
Dive deeper into Black history with online resources
The National Archives includes many primary resources from Black history in America. Rowland Sherman/National Archives
You can find remarkable Black history collections on government, educational and media sites. One of the best is the aforementioned BlackPast, which hosts a large collection of primary documents from African American history, dating back to 1724.
The National Archives also hosts a large collection of records, photos, news articles and videos documenting Black heritage in America. The expansive National Museum of African American History & Culture's Black History Month collection is likewise full of unique articles, videos and learning materials.
The New York Times' 1619 Project tracks the history of Black Americans from the first arrival of enslaved people in Virginia. The Pulitzer Center hosts the full issue of The 1619 Project as a PDF file on its 1619 Education site, which also offers reading guides, activity lessons and reporting related to the project.
You can buy The 1619 Project and the children's picture book version -- The 1619 Project: Born on the Water -- as printed books.
#Here Are 9 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month in 2023#Black History Month 2023#Black Lives Matter#Black History#Black History Month#Black History 2023 Celebrations#1619 Project
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For 13 years… February 1, 2011, 365 days to 366 days in a year, CARTER™️ Magazine expand the vision Dr. Carter G. Woodson began in 1926, celebrating Black History all year round.
We set out with a pledge allegiance to never forget those taken from their homes and sold by their own… For those who traveled alone, didn’t make it and thrown… For those who educate their own, because they were left to be unknown… Your fight and struggle for my rights will never be forgotten; instead, it will be etched in stone. We pledge allegiance to our ancestors as the flag is held high… You will never be forgotten, your history will be told, followed with questions of WHY?
CARTER™️ Magazine where history and hip-hop meet. The evolution of revolution. 13 years and counting…
Let’s also thank those who share knowledge to educate us:
@jamelshabazz
@historybeforeus
@chuckstyless
@historianbae
@plantaseed
@plante.sand
@thefivepercentnation
@joyannreid
@ava
@acorihonzo
@casseloliver
@mrchuckd_pe rch
@geechiedanofficial
@therealjamespickens
@deontaylor
@clintsmithiii
@notoriousphd
@albeesquaremall
@orondekairi
@treehouse_university
@shaebod
@dr._2good4u
And countless others, as it takes a village.
“Spread love is the Brooklyn way.” - B.I.G.
#carter magazine#carter#historyandhiphop365#wherehistoryandhiphopmeet#history#cartermagazine#today in history#staywoke#blackhistory#blackhistorymonth#carter g woodson
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Addison Scurlock (June 19, 1883 - December 16, 1964) photographer, was born to attorney George Clay Scurlock and wife Nannie in Fayetteville, North Carolina. His family moved to DC where he began an apprenticeship under Moses P. Rice. He learned the basics of photographic portraiture and laboratory work. He founded his photography business in his parents’ home. He won a photography gold medal at the Jamestown Exposition.
In 1911, he opened the Scurlock Photographic Studio at 900 U Street in the heart of what was Black Washington’s theater district. He established himself as the preeminent African American photographer in the nation’s capital and was hired by government agencies.
He photographed nationally prominent African Americans such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Archie Alexander, Billy Eckstine, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Lillian Evanti, and Sterling Brown. Prominent Black Washingtonians such as Charles Drew and Duke Ellington were captured in his lens. He took the image of Marian Anderson singing at the Lincoln Memorial. He became the photographer of prominent white Americans such as President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Carter G. Woodson sent his portraits of prominent African American leaders in the packets he mailed to schools across the nation.
He was the first photographer to document the importance of Black life in DC. His photographs included businesses such as the Underdown Delicatessen, religious institutions such as the Lincoln Temple Church, summer events at nearby Highland Beach, Maryland, and sporting events at Howard University.
His family was involved in his business. His wife, Mamie Estelle, served as the studio’s business manager. He trained his sons to shoot pictures using his special style which became known as the “Scurlock look.”
His studio was awarded a citation by the U Street Association as the oldest business. He was the official photographer for Howard University until his death.
His son Robert ran the studio until he died in 1994. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence
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CARTER G. WOODSON:
THE ULTIMATE BLACK NEGRO HISTORIAN. In 1915, Carter G. Woodson traveled to Chicago from his home in Washington, D.C. to take part in a national celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation. He had earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree at the University of Chicago, and still had many friends there. As he joined the thousands of Black Americans overflowing from the Coliseum, which…
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#A writer opinion#be a winner#believing in the promise of God.#Biblical History#biblical insight.#Biblical principles#Black Hebrew Hero.#coming back to the voice of God.#honesty#Publisher
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[ad_1] The origins of Black Historical past Month might be traced again practically 100 years to an unassuming, three-story brick rowhouse in Washington.In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, generally known as “the daddy of Black historical past,” purchased the house at 1538 Ninth Avenue for $8,000. The house served because the headquarters for the Affiliation for the Research of Negro Life and Historical past (which is now generally known as the Affiliation for the Research of African American Life and Historical past, or A.S.A.L.H.). It was the place he ran the Related Publishers, the publishing home centered on African American tradition and historical past at a time when many different publishers wouldn’t settle for works on the subject. It’s the place The Journal of Negro Historical past and The Negro Historical past Bulletin had been based mostly, and it’s the place he initiated the primary Negro Historical past Week — the precursor to Black Historical past Month — in 1926.“If a race has no historical past, if it has no worthwhile custom, it turns into a negligible issue within the considered the world, and it stands at risk of being exterminated,” Dr. Woodson famously wrote.The location, owned by the Nationwide Park Service, is being restored and can doubtless be open to guests beginning this fall, a spokesperson for the Park Service stated.Although Dr. Woodson was the type of neighbor who doted on kids taking part in on the road and his stoop, at the same time as different adults instructed them to behave, 1538 Ninth Avenue was extra about his life’s work than serving as a standard residence. It turned generally known as Dr. Woodson’s “workplace dwelling,” as Willie Leanna Miles, who was a managing director of the Related Publishers, put it in her 1991 article “Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson as I Recall Him, 1943-1950.” The article was printed in The Journal of Negro Historical past, which was based by Dr. Woodson and remains to be working as The Journal of African American Historical past at present.Over time, the workplace dwelling turned an vital nexus level for the Black historical past motion, and stepping via its doorways was a proper of passage for a lot of Black students, writers and activists to hunt Dr. Woodson’s mentorship, work there or a minimum of go via. Mary McLeod Bethune, Lorenzo J. Greene, Lawrence Dunbar Reddick, John Hope Franklin, Langston Hughes and lots of extra all frolicked within the dwelling. Even after Dr. Woodson died in his bed room on the third flooring in 1950, A.S.A.L.H. remained based mostly there till 1971.In 1976, the identical 12 months that Negro Historical past Week formally grew into Black Historical past Month, the workplace dwelling was designated as a Nationwide Historic Landmark. Because the years went on, it fell into disrepair. In 2005, the Nationwide Park Service bought it together with two neighboring homes for $1.3 million, and is now engaged on restoring the constructing and making a welcome heart. Neighborhood RootsBorn in 1875, Dr. Woodson, who was a descendant of slavery, labored as a coal miner, a instructor and a faculty principal. Finally, he turned the second African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard — the primary being W.E.B. DuBois.When Dr. Woodson purchased the rowhouse in Washington, he “needed his group to have a nationwide stature, and that led him to the nation’s capital,” stated Vincent Vaise, one of many planning leads for the Park Service’s restoration mission.Shaw, the place the workplace house is located, was on the time a predominantly Black neighborhood — “just like the Harlem of Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Vaise stated. It was dwelling to Howard College, “Black Broadway,” in addition to a Black YWCA, the place Dr. Woodson would typically have lunch. In more moderen years, Shaw has been a hot-spot for stylish retailers and white millennial residents. The median dwelling sale worth in Shaw and Logan Circle, the adjoining neighborhood, for December was practically $750,000, in line with Redfin.
Ella McCall Haygan sharply remembers what Shaw was like throughout Dr. Woodson’s time. Ms. Haygan, a medical social employee who's now in her 80s, lived down the road from the workplace dwelling, when it was a thriving mental and cultural hub for Black minds. Shaw “was like a village,” Ms. Haygan stated. “Everybody knew everybody.”Dr. Woodson was identified among the many kids primarily for handing out treats. “The sweet retailer was proper by his home, and it was Black owned,” Ms. Haygan stated. “Woodson would purchase sweet and provides it to us.”“He was superb, however we didn’t notice this till we obtained in elementary faculty, and they might have Black historical past week in February,” stated Ms. Haygan. “A few of the children that lived on the block, we had been in the identical grade. We stated, ‘That’s Mr. Woodson?!’ And that’s once we actually discovered precisely who he was.”Ms. Haygan and the opposite children would typically get scolded by different adults for sitting on Dr. Woodson’s steps. However she recalled onetime she went inside, and the picture of all the assorted books and printed supplies made an imprint on her. “Once you went in his home, he had it arrange, I bear in mind, with the books and the pamphlets and stuff that he created. They was laying on the counter,” she stated. “It didn’t register on the time, however in a while it did. There was at all times a burning need for me to get an training.”She got here to understand his presence in her neighborhood much more deeply. “You'll suppose — he’s been to Harvard and all that stuff — that he could be someplace else. However he wasn’t. He was proper there.‘A Coaching Floor’Right this moment, an indication on the house’s facade reads “Affiliation For Research of Negro Life and Historical past, Inc.” and “Related Publishers, Inc.” The inside remains to be unfurnished, however the unique spiral staircase has been restored and put in. Mr. Vaise identified that the upper up you go within the constructing, the extra intimate the areas get. The primary flooring, the place the secretaries labored, was very public, open to prospects and guests. It was additionally “the place order and delivery, processing of The Negro Historical past Bulletin and The Journal of Negro Historical past and different miscellaneous clerical work was achieved,” Ms. Miles wrote in her article.“One by no means obtained the concept the boss would ask you to do something that he wouldn't do himself,” wrote the poet Langston Hughes in a 1950 article within the Negro Historical past Bulletin. Hughes, who labored there within the mid-Twenties, wrote that his job “was to open the workplace within the mornings, preserve it clear, wrap and mail books, help in answering the mail, learn proofs, financial institution the furnace at evening when Dr. Woodson was away.” He additionally recalled one occasion of sneakily taking part in playing cards within the first-floor delivery room with another colleagues, when Dr. Woodson got here dwelling sooner than anticipated from a visit. “No one obtained fired. As an alternative he requested our presence in his research the place he gave us an extended and really severe discuss on our duties to our work, to historical past, and to the Negro race,” Hughes wrote of the incident.Pero G. Dagbovie, a former editor of The Journal of African American Historical past and a distinguished professor of historical past at Michigan State College, stated that “some folks thought of the house to be type of like a coaching floor for future historians and students of the Black expertise.” At one level, Dr. Woodson hosted an exhibition of artwork from Benin within the workplace dwelling, Dr. Dagbovie identified. “He at all times needed folks to return and use the useful resource that was obtainable,” he stated.The second flooring housed Dr. Woodson’s research and archives, which at the moment are partly held by the Library of Congress. This flooring can be the place he would mentor the following technology of Black historians and students.
“My work house task was in Dr. Woodson’s library, 2nd flooring entrance, reverse the staircase resulting in the third flooring. This allowed me a possibility to listen to conversations from his workplace. He seldom missed telling a customer in regards to the truth he was as soon as a coal miner and as soon as earned a residing as a rubbish collector,” Ms. Miles, the managing director of the Related Publishers, wrote.The third and most personal flooring is the place Dr. Woodson slept. It’s additionally the place he died of a coronary heart assault in 1950. However his influence continued to develop posthumously — Negro Historical past Week turned Black Historical past Month, A.S.A.L.H. remains to be energetic and lots of of Dr. Woodson’s mentors went on to develop into distinguished students in their very own proper.For Ms. Haygan, as life carried on, Dr. Woodson was at all times at the back of her thoughts. She was homeless at one level and needed to drop out of college, however her recollections of Dr. Woodson made her need to persevere and ultimately end her training. She obtained her grasp's diploma in social work from the Catholic College of America in 1977. “I considered Dr. Woodson,” Ms. Haygan stated. “I considered him, and I stated, ‘Dr. Woodson, I did it.’” [ad_2] Supply hyperlink
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Black History Month: Trajectory of the history!
October marks Black History Month, the annual commemoration of the history, achievements and contributions of black people in the UK. For the whole month until October 31, events celebrating African and Caribbean cultures and histories will take place around the UK. Events include an exhibition in the Bank of England, which explores the Bank's historical links with slavery. While the UK celebrates Black History month in October, in the US where commemorations originated it takes place throughout February. So, here is everything that needs to be known about Black History Month. Why is Black History Month necessary? People from African and Caribbean backgrounds have been a fundamental part of British history for centuries. However, campaigners believe their value and contribution to society are often overlooked, ignored and distorted. More recently, greater attention has been paid to the importance of the Windrush generation and the Black Lives Matter movement, especially since the death of George Floyd in May 2020. How Did it Originate? Carter G. Woodson Known as the "Father of Black History", Carter G Woodson was born in Virginia in 1875 and was the son of former slaves. Carter G Woodson worked tirelessly throughout his life to promote black history in schools, leaving an indelible legacy. The event got momentum in 1970, and since 1976 every US President officially designated February as Black History Month in the US. February was chosen in the US because it coincides with the births of former President Abraham Lincoln and Fedrick Douglass- who escaped slavery and became a key social activists. Both men played a significant role in helping to end slavery. How is Black History Month Celebrated? Celebration for the Black History Month The event is intended to recognise the contribution and achievements of those with African or Caribbean heritage. It's also an opportunity for people to learn more about the effects of racism and how to challenge negative stereotypes. Black History Month is also celebrated in the community in places such as museums, care homes and workplaces. A broad range of topics is covered, from Britain's colonial past to migration and music. Government funding is available to local organisations to help mark Black History Month in their area. Some of the UK's leading organisations include The Windrush Foundation, National Archives, and 100 Great Black Britons. When was it first Recognised? Black History Month It was first recognised in 1975. When Black History Month first started in the UK, there was a big focus on black American history. Over the time there has been more attention on black British history and key black figures from the UK, such as: - Walter Tull, the first black officer to command white troops in the British Army and one of English football's first black players. - Malorie Blackman, a bestselling author and the first black Children's Laureate. - Olive Morris, a social activist who co-founded groups such as the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent and the Brixton Black Women's Group - Dr Shirley Thompson, the first woman in Europe to conduct and compose a symphony within the last 40 years. - Lewis Hamilton, one of the most high profile competitors in Formula One and the only black driver. Quotations "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together". Desmond Tutu "History has Shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own". Michelle Obama "We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society". Angela Davis Black History Month Read the full article
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One of the things that plagues the African/Black Consciousness for centuries now is the commoditisation of our identities and our place within this codified current reality! Erasure of our History, Cultural and Cosmologies have rendered many unable to find a grounding within themselves, others with a baseless shame of their heritage and others with a restless spirit of self-destruction. Not forgetting the constant pressure the ruling apparatus uses every few decades to further thwart growing unity and solidarity, one minute we are 'primitive savages', then 'negros', then 'coloured', then 'Black' and then now back to being 'People Of Colour'.....what these psychic games attempts to do (when we allow it) is shake up our psyche, causing us to act in self-destrictive ways. Whilst we can argue about how useful or not 'Black History Month' may be, we also have to realise the spirit in which it was ceeated and its ultimate mission; that by learning deeply about our own heritage we come to know much about our potential and grow more confident in self...so its not a question really of what has BHM achieved for us, but rather what have we done with it to further our own potential, grounded in our Knowledge of Self? Carter G Woodson, founder of what is now known as BHM, knew deeply the impact of the right Education on changing reality as he stated when this initiative was first set up... "This crusade is much more important than the anti-lynching movement, because there would be no lynching if it did not start in the schoolroom" — Carter G. Woodson Basically that no-one is born racist, they are trained to become so and likewise we say, no-one was born to be subservient to another's culture as like Nature, we were born free and must live and exert our boundless potential, like the microcosm of the Universe that we are. This is the Cosmology and understanding of our Ancestors, know it and live it well by studying it in detail on our HOME-STUDY COURSE today, the first systemic approach to African Spirituality as a Corpus of Knowledge and Practices transcending time and space. Available at the link below: www.ancestralvoices.co.uk/courses https://www.instagram.com/p/CZclsmStXY8/?utm_medium=tumblr
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every book i read in 2020
books i read for school are bolded, rereads are starred
paradise rot by jenny hval
tin man by sarah winman
we were feminists once by andi zeisler
little weirds by jenny slate
a girl is a half formed thing by eimear mcbride
deaf republic by ilya kaminsky
reverie by ryan la sala
the year of magical thinking by joan didion
on beauty by zadie smith
dark and deepest red by anna-marie mclemore
black dog of fate by peter balakian
the elements of style by william strunk jr & eb white
tell the wolves i’m home by carol rifka brunt
long live the tribe of fatherless girls by t kira madden
the fact of a body by alex marzano-lesnevich
lovely war by julie berry
foul is fair by hannah capin
the king of crows by libba bray
the end we start from by megan hunter
uprooted by naomi novik
the monster hypothesis by romily bernard
the line becomes a river by francisco cantu
the queen by josh levin
red hood by elana k. arnold
the lying game by ruth ware
bunny by mona awad
the last true poets of the sea by julia drake
citizen by claudia rankine
my year of rest and relaxation by ottessa moshfegh
the vacationers by emma straub
their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston
the virgin suicides by jeffrey eugenides
*dare me by megan abbott
the water cure by sophie mackintosh
the chronology of water by lidia yuknavitch
the subversive copyeditor by carol fisher saller
*on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong
how to do nothing by jenny odell
the midnight lie by marie rutkoski
future home of the living god by louise erdrich
the nightingale by kristin hannah
*a great and terrible beauty by libba bray
*rebel angels by libba bray
the fountains of silence by ruta sepetys
*the sweet far thing by libba bray
the bluest eye by toni morrison
the paper wasp by lauren acampora
piecing me together by renee watson
get a life, chloe brown by talia hibbert
you’ll miss me when i’m gone by rachel lynn solomon
the widow of pale harbor by hester fox
passing by nella larsen
my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell
kindred by octavia butler
beach read by emily henry
you should see me in a crown by leah johnson
the guest list by lucy foley
the magic toyshop by angela carter
the southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires by grady hendrix
catherine house by elisabeth thomas
home before dark by riley sager
take a hint, dani brown by talia hibbert
what we lose by zinzi clemmons
the burning girl by claire messud
godshot by chelsea bieker
the thirteenth tale by diane setterfield
such a fun age by kiley reid
the party upstairs by lee conell
my education by susan choi
the city we became by nk jemisin
the lightness by emily temple
followers by megan angelo
temporary by hilary leichter
the kingdom of back by marie lu
the lady’s guide to celestial mechanics by olivia waite
mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia
the bloody chamber & other stories by angela carter
burn our bodies down by rory power
dangerous alliance by jennieke cohen
i’m thinking of ending things by iain reid
pizza girl by jean kyoung frazier
i’ll be gone in the dark by michelle mcnamara
the ghost map by steven johnson
luster by raven leilani
blood water paint by joy mccullough
death in her hands by ottessa moshfegh
cemetery boys by aiden thomas
madame bovary by gustave flaubert
exciting times by naoise dolan
blood countess by lana popović
the hazel wood by melissa albert
jane doe by victoria helen stone
problem child by victoria helen stone
eight perfect murders by peter swanson
heart berries by terese marie mailhot
the austen playbook by lucy parker
take me apart by sara sligar
salt slow by julia armfield
the vanishing half by brit bennett
the price of salt by patricia highsmith
the last by hanna jameson
the comeback by ella berman
horrid by katrina leno
the clique by lisi harrison
another brooklyn by jacqueline woodson
the great believers by rebecca makkai
heartburn by nora ephron
spoiler alert by olivia dade
memorial by bryan washington
will my cat eat my eyeballs?: big questions from tiny mortals about death by caitlin doughty
the lying life of adults by elena ferrante
plain bad heroines by emily m. danforth
days of distraction by alexandra chang
*bunheads by sophie flack
what we don’t talk about when we talk about fat by aubrey gordon
pet by akwaeke emezi
know my name by chanel miller
the glass hotel by emily st. john mandel
leave the world behind by rumaan alam
a certain hunger by chelsea g. summers
because internet by gretchen mcculloch
writers & lovers by lily king
averno by louise glück
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National Parks Conservation Association: Celebrating the 'Book Man' of Washington, D.C. · National Parks Conservation Association
The pioneering educator Carter G. Woodson founded the precursor to Black History Month in 1926. Though temporarily closed for renovations, the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site is scheduled to reopen later this year.
Decades ago, residents of Washington D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood would regularly see a man walking down 9th Street carrying books in his arms — so many books, they were sometimes piled high enough to obscure his face. Thus, the groundbreaking historian Carter G. Woodson, known nationally as the “Father of Black History,” also earned himself the local nickname of “Book Man.”
It is a fitting tribute to a scholar who devoted his life to learning and education, who changed cultural awareness by documenting and distributing information on African American history and achievements, who wrote or coauthored more than 20 books — and who lived in a home filled with stacks and stacks of reading material.
Originally from Virginia, Woodson moved to Washington, D.C., to study at the Library of Congress while he was completing his doctoral degree at Harvard University. He purchased the 9th Street home in 1915 and lived there from 1922 until his death in 1950, keeping not just his extensive personal library on the premises, but also the offices of two grassroots organizations he founded and their numerous books and publications as well.
In 2001, after the home had stood vacant for years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Congress designated the building as a national park site in 2006, as well as the buildings on either side of the main residence, but all three structures needed extensive stabilization and restoration work.
Carter G. Woodson site
Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in Washington, D.C.
The Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site officially opened to the public in May 2017, then closed again for more extensive renovations. Fortunately, the home is scheduled to open again later this year.
When the home was reopened in 2017, it had very little in the way of furnishings or personal effects, and visitors weren’t able to see the Book Man’s actual books — many of which were donated to universities and other learning institutions decades ago. They were, however, able to get an authentic feel for how Woodson lived and worked.
The interior and exterior of the building were painstakingly renovated to resemble its appearance in Woodson’s time, including reconstructing the original façade brick by brick, rebuilding a circular staircase, and restoring original fireplaces and flooring.
Woodson, who was deeply professionally driven, reportedly joked that his property was not a home office, but an “office home.” Even empty, the house and rangers’ interpretation of it offer insight into Woodson’s strict character, his considerable professional accomplishments, and his connections to contemporaries he both taught and learned from, such as Mary McLeod Bethune, Nannie Helen Burroughs and Langston Hughes.
#Celebrating the 'Book Man' of Washington#D.C#Dr Carter G Woodson#Black History Month#Black History Matters#2024
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Least Visited National Park Sites (2/6)
6. Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site
Where: Washington DC - 9th Street NW
2019 Visitors: 2381
Carter G. Woodson was one of the most important preservers of African American history, and the founder of Negro History Week (now celebrated as Black History Month). His home was the headquarters of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, The Journal of Negro History, and The Negro History Bulletin. Described as a center of learning, people such as Langston Hughes worked here.
7. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Where: Nome, Alaska
2019 Visitors: 2642
Bering Land Bridge lies at an important crossroad for animal and human movement that greatly influenced life in the Pleistocene Epoch (2.5 million to 11,700 years ago). The Bering Strait, which lies between Alaska and Russia, was once frozen, allowing life to venture from Asia to North America. This national preserve is home to caribou, muskoxen, arctic and red fox, brown and polar bears, and walrus.
8. Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site
Where: California - 31 miles from San Francisco
2019 Visitors: 2944
America’s only Nobel Prize winning playwright, O’Neill wrote The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten within the walls of his California home. O’Neill, who lived a restless life, finally settled in this secluded 158-acre ranch in the San Ramon Valley. Alongside his Nobel Prize (1936), he also won four Pulitzers.
9. Nicodemus National Historic Site
Where: Kansas - 232 miles from Wichita
2019 Visitors: 3540
After the Civil War, newly emancipated African Americans were told to head west to experience more freedom, and Kansas was considered the ‘Promised Land’ since it was so far removed from the rest of American society. Nicodemus is the oldest and only surviving Black settlement west of the Mississippi River. Containing five buildings, a townhall, a home, two churches, and a school, this historic site offers a glimpse into the plight for freedom from a society that rejected them.
10. Mary Mcleod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
Where: Washington DC - Vermont Ave NW
2019 Visitors: 3788
The Mary Mcleod Bethune Council House was the original headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women. A historian and activist, Bethune was the first female president of Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The home received many important guests, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Josephine Baker.
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Carlos Simon's Troubled Water is a trombone concerto commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It derives inspiration from the history of the Underground Railroad in the United States. The piece is inspired by the many stories, accounts, and experiences told by many enslaved people and abolitionists.
Michigan was one of the last states for enslaved persons to reach before getting to freedom in Canada. The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. Detroit has an incredible amount of sites with historical significance to the Underground Railroad.
City of Detroit Historian Jamon Jordan (pictured above with composer Nkeiru Okoye) describes a collection of nine sites, listed below. We encourage you to visit the sites in conjunction with listening to Simon's piece to learn more about Detroit's important role in this history. A Google Map of all site locations is available here.
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1) Former Detroit Jail Site - The Blackburn Uprising of 1833 Corner of Gratiot Avenue and Farmer Street
Husband and wife, Thornton and Lucie Blackburn escaped from slavery in Louisville, KY in 1831. They came to Detroit. In 1833, slave catchers came to Detroit and with assistance from the sheriff, apprehended the Blackburns and detained them in the jail until they could be transported via boat to Ohio, and then by wagon to Louisville. Two women came to visit Lucie Blackburn and one of them switched clothes with her and stayed in the jail cell while Lucie was taken to Canada. The next day, a crowd of 400 people gathered outside of the jail and demanded the release of Thornton Blackburn. In the melee that followed, the sheriff was seriously wounded and Thornton was rescued and taken to Canada. This is now the site of the Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library.
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2) Second Baptist Church Monroe and Beaubien Streets
Second Baptist Church, founded in 1836, is the oldest Black-led church in Michigan, and was a station on the Underground Railroad, the first school for Black students in Detroit, and a major venue for civil rights. Frederick Douglass, WEB DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., all spoke at Second Baptist Church. They have been at this corner since 1857.
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3) William and Julia Lambert Homesite 497 Larned Street (near Saint Aubin)
This was the home of Underground Railroad agents William & Julia Lambert (both African Americans). This couple owned successful businesses, used their home as a station on the Underground Railroad, and were conductors and stockholders (funders) on the Underground Railroad. William Lambert co-founded the Detroit Anti-Slavery Society, the Detroit Vigilant Committee, the African American Mysteries: Order of the Men of Oppression, and he and his wife Julia co-founded St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, the 3rd Black church in Detroit, which was a school and a station on the Underground Railroad. Frederick Douglass stayed in this home on one of his visits to Detroit. The historical marker that was placed here was stolen in 2016.
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4) George DeBaptiste Homesite Southwest corner of Larned Street and Beaubien Boulevard
This was the home of Underground Railroad agent George DeBaptiste (African American). DeBaptiste was a member of Second Baptist Church, and used his home as a station on the Underground Railroad. He was a successful businessman, and served as a conductor and stockholder of the Underground Railroad. He was a co-founder of the Detroit Vigilant Committee and the African American Mysteries: Order of the Men of Oppression, and owned his own steamboat—The T. Whitney—that assisted many freedom seekers to make their way to Canada. Today, the building at this corner is a Blue Cross/Blue Shield office.
5) William Webb Homesite Northeast corner of Saint Antoine and Congress Streets
William Webb (African American) was a grocer, and his home was a station on the Underground Railroad. He was a prominent member of the Detroit Vigilant Committee and the African American Mysteries: Order of the Men of Oppression. His home was the meeting place of Frederick Douglass and John Brown in March, 1859. There is a historical marker here.
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6) The Gateway to Freedom: International Underground Railroad Monument Detroit Riverfront, at the foot of Hart Plaza
This monument was sculpted by Ed Dwight (African American), a former astronaut. It was unveiled in 2001, to honor Detroit's role on the Underground Railroad. The sister monument—Tower of Freedom—is on the other side in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The names and sites of Underground Railroad leaders and stations are etched on the monument.
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7) Seymour Finney Barn Northeast corner of State and Griswold Streets
This barn was owned by Seymour Finney (white American), a tailor, saloon owner, and innkeeper. He was a founding leader of the Detroit Anti-Slavery Society, and his barn served as a station on the Underground Railroad. There is a plaque on the building, owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
Across the Street in Capitol Park, is a historical marker that tells the story of Finney. It is near the original site of the First Michigan Capitol Building. Detroit was the capital of Michigan from 1805-1847. When the capital changed to Lansing in 1847, the old building became a school. William George Dolarson (African American) was the school janitor, but was also Finney's partner as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He was a member of Second Baptist Church.
8) Old St. John's Evangelical Church Russell Street just south of Gratiot Avenue
Presently, St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical United Church of Christ. This congregation is the first German Protestant church in Detroit. Although this building was built in 1874, its earlier building was a station on the Underground Railroad. One of the ways the church assisted freedom seekers to Canada, was to place them in a coffin and lead a funeral procession to the river. This would arouse no suspicion from the authorities. The freedom seekers would then be taken out of the casket at the riverbank and placed on a boat to Canada. One of the coffins is on display inside of the church.
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9) First Congregational Church Woodward Avenue and Forest Street
First Congregational Church was originally near the riverfront, and it was there that the church served as a station on the Underground Railroad. The present-day church houses the Underground Railroad Living Museum which leads groups on a tour in which the Underground Railroad is re-created with actors playing the parts of conductors and stationmasters on the Underground Railroad.
Further Learning: Reading Resources
Hudson, J. Blaine. Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. This encyclopedia focuses on the people, ideas, events, and places associated with the Underground Railroad.
Miles, Tiya. The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits. A book chronicling the fascinating and disturbing history of slavery in early Detroit. Miles delves in detail into why and how many slaves were owned by the city’s elite, relationships between the races, and individual stories about freed and enslaved people.
Mull, Carol E. The Underground Railroad in Michigan. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2010. Provides a fresh examination of Michigan’s critical role in the movement to end slavery.
Smardz Frost, Karolyn and Tucker, Veda Smith. A Fluid Frontier: Slavery, Resistance and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit Borderland. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2016. An edited collection that seeks to provide a re-interpretation of the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River region.
Tobin, Jacqueline L. From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad. New York: Doubleday, 2007. Offers a new perspective on the Underground Railroad through the experiences of fugitive ex-slaves from the United States to free black settlements in Canada.
Tobin, Jacqueline L. Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. New York: Anchor Books, 2000. Explains how enslaved men and women encoded messages within quilt patterns that helped fugitives navigate their escape along the Underground Railroad.
Acknowledgements The DSO thanks City of Detroit Historian Jamon Jordan for the development of the content of this guide, the Detroit Public Library for compiling a list of resources for further learning, and Varnum for their sponsorship of community events surrounding the premiere of Carlos Simon's Troubled Water.
The Underground Railroad in Detroit | Detroit Symphony Orchestra
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Vivian Gordon Harsh (May 7, 1890 - August 17, 1960) was the first African American librarian in the Chicago Public Library system and a significant contributor to Chicago’s Black Renaissance. She was appointed head librarian of the George Cleveland Hall Branch, the city’s first library built in an African American community. She developed a Black history collection that would become a world-renowned resource for residents and scholars.
She was born in Chicago to Fenton and Maria (Drake) Harsh, both graduates of Fisk University. She began work in 1909 as a junior clerk at the Chicago Public Library. She received her BA in Library Science from Simmons College and took advanced courses at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Library Science.
She became the city’s first Black professional librarian. She recognized the need for library services on Chicago’s south side, the heart of the city’s African American community. Funding from philanthropist Julius Rosenwald allowed her to visit African American collections in other cities, providing the basis for the George C. Hall branch that opened in the Bronzeville neighborhood with her as its director.
She and Charlemae Rollins, a children’s librarian, developed the branch’s substantial African American resources along with programming for the Black community. The collection began with over 100 books on African Americans donated by George Bentley, founder of the Chicago branch of the NAACP. She expanded the collection through private donations and her contributions.
The library itself became a Mecca for literary and cultural icons of the period, some of whom contributed manuscripts to the institution. The resources have grown into the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, the largest of its kind in the Midwest and located at the city’s Carter G. Woodson Regional Library. It includes 70,000 books and unique materials like the historic Illinois Writers Project “Negro in Illinois” paper.
In 1958, she retired from the Chicago Public Library. A city park near her childhood home was named in her honor. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence
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Reposted from @theconsciouskid Happy Black History Month! - "It is not so much a Negro History [Month] as it is a History [Month]. We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history...The case of the Negro is well taken care of when it is shown how he has influenced the development of civilization". —Carter G. Woodson, the "Father of Black History Month" - We will be honoring Black contributions to history, culture, and civilization everyday, by sharing children's books and information that you can read and share at home or in the classroom. Join us! - #BlackHistoryMonth https://www.instagram.com/p/CKws9gbDGKT/?igshid=1dfem7tcns3p8
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[ad_1] The origins of Black Historical past Month might be traced again practically 100 years to an unassuming, three-story brick rowhouse in Washington.In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, generally known as “the daddy of Black historical past,” purchased the house at 1538 Ninth Avenue for $8,000. The house served because the headquarters for the Affiliation for the Research of Negro Life and Historical past (which is now generally known as the Affiliation for the Research of African American Life and Historical past, or A.S.A.L.H.). It was the place he ran the Related Publishers, the publishing home centered on African American tradition and historical past at a time when many different publishers wouldn’t settle for works on the subject. It’s the place The Journal of Negro Historical past and The Negro Historical past Bulletin had been based mostly, and it’s the place he initiated the primary Negro Historical past Week — the precursor to Black Historical past Month — in 1926.“If a race has no historical past, if it has no worthwhile custom, it turns into a negligible issue within the considered the world, and it stands at risk of being exterminated,” Dr. Woodson famously wrote.The location, owned by the Nationwide Park Service, is being restored and can doubtless be open to guests beginning this fall, a spokesperson for the Park Service stated.Although Dr. Woodson was the type of neighbor who doted on kids taking part in on the road and his stoop, at the same time as different adults instructed them to behave, 1538 Ninth Avenue was extra about his life’s work than serving as a standard residence. It turned generally known as Dr. Woodson’s “workplace dwelling,” as Willie Leanna Miles, who was a managing director of the Related Publishers, put it in her 1991 article “Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson as I Recall Him, 1943-1950.” The article was printed in The Journal of Negro Historical past, which was based by Dr. Woodson and remains to be working as The Journal of African American Historical past at present.Over time, the workplace dwelling turned an vital nexus level for the Black historical past motion, and stepping via its doorways was a proper of passage for a lot of Black students, writers and activists to hunt Dr. Woodson’s mentorship, work there or a minimum of go via. Mary McLeod Bethune, Lorenzo J. Greene, Lawrence Dunbar Reddick, John Hope Franklin, Langston Hughes and lots of extra all frolicked within the dwelling. Even after Dr. Woodson died in his bed room on the third flooring in 1950, A.S.A.L.H. remained based mostly there till 1971.In 1976, the identical 12 months that Negro Historical past Week formally grew into Black Historical past Month, the workplace dwelling was designated as a Nationwide Historic Landmark. Because the years went on, it fell into disrepair. In 2005, the Nationwide Park Service bought it together with two neighboring homes for $1.3 million, and is now engaged on restoring the constructing and making a welcome heart. Neighborhood RootsBorn in 1875, Dr. Woodson, who was a descendant of slavery, labored as a coal miner, a instructor and a faculty principal. Finally, he turned the second African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard — the primary being W.E.B. DuBois.When Dr. Woodson purchased the rowhouse in Washington, he “needed his group to have a nationwide stature, and that led him to the nation’s capital,” stated Vincent Vaise, one of many planning leads for the Park Service’s restoration mission.Shaw, the place the workplace house is located, was on the time a predominantly Black neighborhood — “just like the Harlem of Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Vaise stated. It was dwelling to Howard College, “Black Broadway,” in addition to a Black YWCA, the place Dr. Woodson would typically have lunch. In more moderen years, Shaw has been a hot-spot for stylish retailers and white millennial residents. The median dwelling sale worth in Shaw and Logan Circle, the adjoining neighborhood, for December was practically $750,000, in line with Redfin.
Ella McCall Haygan sharply remembers what Shaw was like throughout Dr. Woodson’s time. Ms. Haygan, a medical social employee who's now in her 80s, lived down the road from the workplace dwelling, when it was a thriving mental and cultural hub for Black minds. Shaw “was like a village,” Ms. Haygan stated. “Everybody knew everybody.”Dr. Woodson was identified among the many kids primarily for handing out treats. “The sweet retailer was proper by his home, and it was Black owned,” Ms. Haygan stated. “Woodson would purchase sweet and provides it to us.”“He was superb, however we didn’t notice this till we obtained in elementary faculty, and they might have Black historical past week in February,” stated Ms. Haygan. “A few of the children that lived on the block, we had been in the identical grade. We stated, ‘That’s Mr. Woodson?!’ And that’s once we actually discovered precisely who he was.”Ms. Haygan and the opposite children would typically get scolded by different adults for sitting on Dr. Woodson’s steps. However she recalled onetime she went inside, and the picture of all the assorted books and printed supplies made an imprint on her. “Once you went in his home, he had it arrange, I bear in mind, with the books and the pamphlets and stuff that he created. They was laying on the counter,” she stated. “It didn’t register on the time, however in a while it did. There was at all times a burning need for me to get an training.”She got here to understand his presence in her neighborhood much more deeply. “You'll suppose — he’s been to Harvard and all that stuff — that he could be someplace else. However he wasn’t. He was proper there.‘A Coaching Floor’Right this moment, an indication on the house’s facade reads ���Affiliation For Research of Negro Life and Historical past, Inc.” and “Related Publishers, Inc.” The inside remains to be unfurnished, however the unique spiral staircase has been restored and put in. Mr. Vaise identified that the upper up you go within the constructing, the extra intimate the areas get. The primary flooring, the place the secretaries labored, was very public, open to prospects and guests. It was additionally “the place order and delivery, processing of The Negro Historical past Bulletin and The Journal of Negro Historical past and different miscellaneous clerical work was achieved,” Ms. Miles wrote in her article.“One by no means obtained the concept the boss would ask you to do something that he wouldn't do himself,” wrote the poet Langston Hughes in a 1950 article within the Negro Historical past Bulletin. Hughes, who labored there within the mid-Twenties, wrote that his job “was to open the workplace within the mornings, preserve it clear, wrap and mail books, help in answering the mail, learn proofs, financial institution the furnace at evening when Dr. Woodson was away.” He additionally recalled one occasion of sneakily taking part in playing cards within the first-floor delivery room with another colleagues, when Dr. Woodson got here dwelling sooner than anticipated from a visit. “No one obtained fired. As an alternative he requested our presence in his research the place he gave us an extended and really severe discuss on our duties to our work, to historical past, and to the Negro race,” Hughes wrote of the incident.Pero G. Dagbovie, a former editor of The Journal of African American Historical past and a distinguished professor of historical past at Michigan State College, stated that “some folks thought of the house to be type of like a coaching floor for future historians and students of the Black expertise.” At one level, Dr. Woodson hosted an exhibition of artwork from Benin within the workplace dwelling, Dr. Dagbovie identified. “He at all times needed folks to return and use the useful resource that was obtainable,” he stated.The second flooring housed Dr. Woodson’s research and archives, which at the moment are partly held by the Library of Congress. This flooring can be the place he would mentor the following technology of Black historians and students.
“My work house task was in Dr. Woodson’s library, 2nd flooring entrance, reverse the staircase resulting in the third flooring. This allowed me a possibility to listen to conversations from his workplace. He seldom missed telling a customer in regards to the truth he was as soon as a coal miner and as soon as earned a residing as a rubbish collector,” Ms. Miles, the managing director of the Related Publishers, wrote.The third and most personal flooring is the place Dr. Woodson slept. It’s additionally the place he died of a coronary heart assault in 1950. However his influence continued to develop posthumously — Negro Historical past Week turned Black Historical past Month, A.S.A.L.H. remains to be energetic and lots of of Dr. Woodson’s mentors went on to develop into distinguished students in their very own proper.For Ms. Haygan, as life carried on, Dr. Woodson was at all times at the back of her thoughts. She was homeless at one level and needed to drop out of college, however her recollections of Dr. Woodson made her need to persevere and ultimately end her training. She obtained her grasp's diploma in social work from the Catholic College of America in 1977. “I considered Dr. Woodson,” Ms. Haygan stated. “I considered him, and I stated, ‘Dr. Woodson, I did it.’” [ad_2] Supply hyperlink
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