Dr. Carter G. Woodson
The theme for Black in Historic Preservation’s 2026 Program is "Been Preservation."
A key component of the program is a series of profiles of Black preservation ancestors that highlight their preservation activities and Black people's agency in the preservation field, prior to the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
To get things started, we will begin with the reason for February’s celebration of Black history: Black History Month's founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
Who
Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Founder, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH)
Founder, Black History Month
Active Preservation Year(s)
1922 - 1950
Preservation Activities
Stewardship of his 3-Story Late Victorian House
Preservation Portfolio
Dr. Carter’s Home and ASAALH Headquarters, until the 1970s (Washington, DC)
…
Although Dr. Woodson seeded Black History Month, and before that Negro History Week, in the US, it has blossomed into an international movement.
The year 2026 marks 100 years of Black History Month. To read newspaper articles from 1926 and 1937 about how people celebrated what Dr. Woodson then called “Negro History Week,” click on the images below.
Carter G. Woodson Home (1538 Ninth Street NW in Washington, D.C.): NPS designated it a National Historic Landmark and listed it on the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 1976
The St. Louis Argus, 1926 (Source: Newspapers.com)
Pittsburgh Courier, 1926 (Source: Newspapers.com)
The Afro-American, 1926 (Source: Newspapers.com)
The New York Age, 1937 (Source: Newspapers.com)