Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History, in 1926 promoted the second week of February as a celebration of "Negro History Week." Reasons for his choice of this week were to recognize Abraham Lincoln's birth date on the 12th and Frederick Douglass's birth date on the 14th. Frederick Douglass, a former slave, strongly advocated freeing the enslaved population and allowing them to serve in the United States military during the Civil War. He has been given credit for the influence he had on Abraham Lincoln's final decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The week has since become a month long recognition of contributions made by African-Americans to the nation's history, culture and diversity. This year's observance salutes Carter G. Woodson and his success in promoting the study of African-American history.
Carter Goodwin Woodson, born December 19, 1875 in New Canon, Virginia, was the son of James and Anne Eliza Riddle Woodson. After obtaining a primary education, he enrolled at Berea College in Kentucky and received a B.A. degree in 1903. By 1912 he had received his PhD from Harvard.
Carter G. Woodson purchased a home in Washington, D.C. in 1915 where he began his life long career in recording and telling African-American history. His home has been designated a National Historic Site. The house is located in the famous Shaw Neighborhood of Washington at 1538 Ninth Street. On January 1, 1916, from this home, Woodson wrote, published and distributed the first Journal of Negro History, a quarterly publication.
The United States Postal service issued a commemorative stamp to honor Mr. Woodson on February 1, 1984.
The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights inducted him into the Kentucky Hall of Fame in 2005.
We have no record as to when Isaac and Carter would have met but we are certain they did. Isaac lived and worked in Washington from 1907 until 1915. His studio was at 12th and U Streets, only three blocks from the home of Woodson. Isaac was a member of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History which was founded by Woodson. The Negro History Bulletin featured an article in which Woodson was quoted as having once said to Hathaway "I'll keep what the Negroes say and do, and you keep what they look like." (The Negro History Bulletin, Vol XXI, pg 79, January 1958) A photo in the same journal displayed all of the masks and several busts Mr. Hathaway had sculpted. Among them was one of Dr. Carter G. Woodson who had died April 3, 1950, the day before Isaac's seventy-eighth birthday.
