From Publishers Weekly
This dry but thorough biography traces the life and career of Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), known to many as "the father of Negro history." Goggin, a historian at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute of Harvard University, explores the influences of Woodson's virtuous ex-slave parents, his stints as a manual laborer and his studies at the University of Chicago and Harvard. Founding the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, he taught the first black history courses at Howard University and later, in several scholarly projects, spurred consideration of blacks as participants in, not merely victims of, American history. He published both the scholarly Journal of Negro History and the popular Negro History Bulletin and became a political activist who eschewed party politics. Examining Woodson's simultaneous support of black nationalism and integration, and how he both celebrated and criticized black culture, Goggin lauds the breadth of his contributions while fairly assessing their limitations. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Goggin presents the first full-length biography of black historian and activist Woodson (1875-1950), the first and only black of slave parentage to receive a Ph.D. in history (Harvard). While a teacher in Washington, D.C., Woodson began his editorship of the Journal of Negro History. Together with his Negro History Bulletin , two pivotal history books, and the creation of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Woodson advanced his ideas for a combined classical and vocational education for American blacks, traditional economics instead of the promises of communism, and peaceful political dissent. His Ph.D. work and the relentless message of his journals--that blacks must learn history, especially their own--influenced the NAACP and established a legacy that lives on. A scholarly work, necessary for academic collections.
- Bruce Alan Hanson, Wayzata East Jr. H. S. Lib., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Bruce Alan Hanson, Wayzata East Jr. H. S. Lib., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
