Dr. Carter G. Woodson was a renowned scholar and a catalyst for change.  He understood the importance for African-Americans to know their history during a time when there was very little devoted to recognizing African history and culture.  He was the founder of the Journal of Negro History and the father of the concept of African-American History Month which began as Negro History Week.

Dr. Woodson is most recognized for his book, The Miseducation of the Negro. In it, he asserted that post Civil War educational institutions for African-Americans were culprits of psychological and mental enslavement. He believed that African-Americans were not being provided with knowledge about their literature, art, music, and culture thus being trained to be inferior. He argued that this would contribute to the creation of a people that would accept the belief of European cultural superiority while denying the significance of their own culture. His book is still regarded as one of the most critical indictments of the educational system in this nation pertaining to African-Americans and how change was essential for schools if they were to meet the learning needs of all students.