Making Black History Practical and Popular: Carter G. Woodson, The Proto Black Studies Movement, And the Struggle for Black Liberation‪.‬

Introduction Nearly one century ago, Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), the only individual of slave parentage to be awarded a Ph.D. in history, began laying the foundations for the current advanced state of African American history and Black Studies. Several years after earning his doctorate from Harvard University in 1912, Woodson published his first monograph, The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 (New York: Putnam's, 1915), and established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). According to Woodson, the Association, which he co-founded in Chicago with George Cleveland Hall, James E. Stamps, and Alexander L. Jackson, outlined its function to encompass "the collection of sociological and historical data" on African Americans, "the study of peoples of African blood, the publishing of books in this field, and the promotion of harmony between the races by acquainting the one with the other" (Woodson 1925, p. 598). During Woodson's lifetime, the Association served as the nationally recognized movement center for the advancement of black history. Unlike most scholarly organizations during the era of segregation, black or white, the membership of the ASNLH represented a diverse cross section of the black community, including professionals, intellectuals, school teachers, non-formally trained scholars, and youth.