Woodson, Carter G

Woodson, Carter G(odwin)

(born Dec. 19, 1875, New Canton, Va., U.S.—died April 3, 1950, Washington, D.C.) U.S. historian. Born into a poor family, he supported himself as a coal miner and was unable to enroll in high school until he was 20. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1915 he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to encourage the study of African American history; he also edited the association's Journal of Negro History. In the early 1920s he founded Associated Publishers to bring out books on African American life and culture. Among his works was the college text The Negro in Our History (1922).