Book Description

"A Century of Negro Migration" is a provocative work by the distinguished African-American scholar, Carter G. Woodson, First published in 1918, "A Century of Negro Migration" traces the migration of southern blacks to the north and the west from the colonial era through the early 20th century. Documented with information from contemporary newspapers, personal letters, and academic journals, "A Century of Negro Migration" is both a discerning study and vivid account of decades of harassment and humiliation, hope and achievement. Carter G. Woodson was an African-American historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He was one of the first scholars to value and study Black History. Carter G. Woodson recognized and acted upon the importance of a people having an awareness and knowledge of their contributions to humanity and left behind an impressive legacy. A founder of Journal of Negro History, Dr. Woodson is known as the Father of Black History. After leaving Howard University because of differences with its president, Dr. Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research. He worked to preserve the history of African Americans and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. He noted that African American contributions "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them." Race prejudice, he concluded, "is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind." In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week", for the second week in February, to coincide with marking the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The week was later extended to the full month of February and renamed Black History Month.