Carter G. Woodson

Born to formerly enslaved parents in Virginia, Woodson worked in coal mines before attending school. He earned a degree from Berea College in 1903, then bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Chicago in 1908, followed by a PhD in history from Harvard University in 1912. In 1915 he established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1926, the association initiated Negro History Week, scheduled in February to encompass the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the observance was expanded to a month and became Black History Month.

Woodson helped establish African American history as a field of study and created an annual observance that expanded into Black History Month.