Bill Text: WV SR24 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Honoring life and legacy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-02-05 - Completed legislative action [SR24 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2016-SR24-Introduced.html
SENATE RESOLUTION 24
(By Senators Plymale, Woelfel and Stollings)
[Introduced February 5, 2016.]
Honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a native of Huntington, West Virginia, who is known as the Father of Black History Month.
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson was a distinguished author, editor, publisher, educator and historian, and is widely considered the “Father of Black History”; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson was born in 1875 in New Canton, Virginia, a son of former slaves, Anne Eliza (Riddle) and James Henry Woodson, a carpenter who relocated in 1870 to help complete the C&O Railroad in what became Huntington, West Virginia, and helped build the town; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson mastered the fundamentals of common school subjects by the time he was seventeen, largely by self-instruction, and overcame other obstacles to become a leading twentieth-century intellectual; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson spent six years working in the West Virginia coal mines and moved to Huntington after his parents moved back from Virginia. In Huntington, Dr. Woodson and two of his sisters graduated from Douglass School; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson took his first steps toward becoming one of the most outspoken advocates of improving education for all Americans when he was a West Virginian. He began his teaching career in Winona, Fayette County, West Virginia, and became the principal of Douglass School in 1900, just four years after graduating. He received a degree from Berea College in 1903 and left near the end of that year for the Philippines, where he was hired as a school supervisor. He traveled the world and studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson also earned a B.A. and a M.A. in History from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in History from Harvard University, becoming the second African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and the first child of former slaves to earn a doctorate in History from any university; and
Whereas, In 1915, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson and several friends in Chicago established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History), and it remains a century later as the oldest learned society for African-Americans. In 1916, Dr. Woodson founded The Journal of Negro History (now The Journal of African-American History), a scholarly publication which helped him return African-American contributions to history books. In 1926, he developed Negro History Week which was renamed Black History Month in 1976 and his public campaign to increase knowledge of black contributions in history has become one of the great cultural achievements of the past 90 years; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson returned to West Virginia in 1920 as the dean of the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, now West Virginia State University. The position was his last professional appointment in West Virginia. He still maintained his family ties, owned property in Huntington and visited for speaking engagements until his passing; and
Whereas, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson passed away on April 3, 1950 at his home, which is now a National Park Service National Historic Site in Washington, D.C., his scholarly legacy continues through the annual celebrations of black history in schools and other public gatherings across the United States; and
Whereas, Marshall University’s John Deaver Drinko Academy has sought to reintroduce Dr. Carter G. Woodson to Huntington and West Virginia through a project called Remembering Dr. Carter G. Woodson, through scholarships and public endeavors; and
Whereas, February is Black History Month, a legacy of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson and an achievement many cite as his greatest accomplishment; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate hereby honors the life and legacy of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, a native of Huntington, West Virginia, and who is known as the Father of Black History Month; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to Marshall University’s John Deaver Drinko Academy.
