Historian Carter G. Woodson’s employment of the black press and modern public-relations techniques to preserve and popularize black history during the first half of the 20th century is rediscovered and examined in this study. This rarely explored side of Woodson, often called “The Father of Black History,” resurrects the lost image of a leading cultural icon who used his celebrity in multiple roles as an opinion journalist, newsmaker, and CEO/publicist of black history to bring veneration to a subject whose past was clouded by misinformation and contempt. During his era, 1915-1950, Woodson cul ... More

Historian Carter G. Woodson’s employment of the black press and modern public-relations techniques to preserve and popularize black history during the first half of the 20th century is rediscovered and examined in this study. This rarely explored side of Woodson, often called “The Father of Black History,” resurrects the lost image of a leading cultural icon who used his celebrity in multiple roles as an opinion journalist, newsmaker, and CEO/publicist of black history to bring veneration to a subject whose past was clouded by misinformation and contempt. During his era, 1915-1950, Woodson cultivated and won crucial press support for his Black History Movement, while merging his interests and the interests of the black newspapers. His cause became their cause.