Handley Regional Library System announces a new program in celebration of Black History Month. The program, titled Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History Month’s Home – a National Historic Site, is on February 23rd at 11AM at Handley Library in Winchester. Join park ranger and notable historian, John T. Fowler, II, as he discusses Woodson’s life and legacy, as well as how Woodson’s office-home (now known as the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site) became the focal point of the African American history movement. The program is free and open to the public.
About Dr. Carter G. Woodson:
Around the turn of the 20th century as Dr. Carter G. Woodson began his own academic career, he noticed a glaring hole in the educational system in the United States. The public knew very little about the role of African Americans in American history, and schools were not including African American history in their curriculum. He worked tirelessly throughout his life to remedy this problem becoming nationally recognized as “the Father of Black History.” Woodson exposed the American public to the profound impact of people of African descent through a variety of means, most notably by founding Negro History Week in 1926, known today as Black History Month.
About the Presenter:
John T. Fowler, II is a Public Historian. Having always had a love for history and a desire to share that love with others, he is currently employed by the National Park Service as a Park Ranger and Volunteer Coordinator at National Capital Parks-East and serves at the following parks: Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, Carter G. Woodson Home, and Frederick Douglass National Historic Sites. In 2014, he earned his M.A. degree in History from the Public History Program at Howard University. He holds a B.A. degree in History from the University of the District of Columbia, where he was awarded the 2011 Emerging Public Historian Award. He is also an author and has presented on panels at local, state, and national historical conferences. His latest research focuses on the work of Dr. Andrew Fowler—a lesser known figure in the Civil Rights Movement—and the influence of the black church, in relation to the securing of civil rights and the political engagement of African American citizens of the nation’s capital.