Advertisement

Google honors historian, author Carter G. Woodson with new Doodle

By Wade Sheridan
Google is paying homage to Carter G. Woodson, the second African-American to ever receive a Harvard University doctorate degree, with a new Doodle. Image courtesy of Google.
Google is paying homage to Carter G. Woodson, the second African-American to ever receive a Harvard University doctorate degree, with a new Doodle. Image courtesy of Google.

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Google is marking the beginning of Black History Month by celebrating historian, scholar, educator and author Carter G. Woodson with a new Doodle.

Woodson, referred to as the "Father of Black History," was born to former slaves Anne Eliza and James Henry Woodson in 1875 in New Canton, Va. He entered high school at the age of 20 after working to support his family and earned his diploma in less than two years.

Advertisement

He would go on to become the second ever African American to receive a doctorate degree from Harvard and become one of the first scholars to focus on the study of African-American history by writing a dozen books covering the subject.

"Woodson was committed to bringing African-American history front and center and ensuring it was taught in schools and studied by other scholars, Google said of his career. "He devised a program to encourage this study, which began in February of 1926 as a weeklong event. Woodson chose February for this celebration to commemorate the birth months of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. This program eventually expanded to become what we now today as Black History Month."

Advertisement

Woodson continued to promote African American scholarship and wrote a regular column for Negro World, a weekly publication founded by Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey. He died of a heart attack in 1950 at the age of 74.

Google's homepage features a colorful illustration of Woodson done by Virginia-based artist Shannon Wright and made in conjunction with the Black Googlers Network, one of the largest employee resource groups at Google.

The image features Woodson surrounded by books and writing pieces related to African-American history.

Latest Headlines