BLACK HISTORY MONTH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Carter G. Woodson

(December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950) was an African-American historian, author, journalist and the founder of theAssociation for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first scholars to study African-American history. A founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1915, Woodson has been cited as the father of black history.In February 1926 he announced the celebration of "Negro History Week", considered the precursor of Black History Month.

After leaving Howard University because of differences with its president,[citation needed] Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research. He worked to preserve the history of African Americans and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. He noted that African-American contributions "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them."

Race prejudice, he concluded, "is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind."

In 1926, Woodson pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week", designated for the second week in February, to coincide with marking the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln andFrederick Douglass. The week of recognition became accepted and has been extended as the full month of February, now known as Black History Month.