The Historiography of Carter G. Woodson

Author

Curtis B. McGowan, Prairie View A&M College

Date of Award

8-1952

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Degree Discipline

Arts and Science

Abstract

The death of Carter Goodwin Woodson, April 3, 1950,¹ has led directly or indirectly to the publishing of many articles and essays concerning Dr. Woodson's life and his various works. It is beyond doubt that many of these articles have lacked objectivity and were not critical in their analyses. There has been a tendency for those people who have cared to write an article on Dr. Woodson, to be lavish in their praise with far less care to the elements of historical analyses.

It would be presumptuous, at this time, to measure the full effect of his endeavors, but the time is ripe for beginning an impartial analysis of the works of a man who dedicated his life to the task of providing his people with a respectable past in accordance with the latest historical methods of research. Laboring under the apparent assumption, as expressed in a letter to the George Washington Bicentennial Celebration, that the Negroes, ignorant of their past, "have permitted others to discredit their past, which is just as glorious as that of any race,"² he sought to give future historians the instrument of a respectable Negro history, which, if fused with the white historians' perspective, would provide a broader frame of reference for the reconstruction of history.

Some of our leading historians and social scientists contend that Dr. Woodson accomplished a titanic task embracing the latest historical methods, while other prominent historians and social scientists believe that he deliberately over emphasized the facts, thus reducing his life's work to mere propaganda.

In the light of these hypothetical contentions, the writer, realizing that a man is the product of his time, proposes to make an objective analysis of the historiography of Garter Goodwin Woodson as measured by the historical methodology of the time in which he wrote, with special emphasis upon his frames of reference. The problem for consideration is whether posterity will accept his findings as a valid foundation for future development, or will his historical works become a negligible factor in the field of historiography?

¹American Historical Review, Volume LV, No. 4, July, 1950, p. 1041.

²Journal of Negro History, Volume XVII, No. 1, Januray, 1932, p. 103. Hereafter cited J. N. H.

Committee Chair/Advisor

George Ruble Woolfolk

Publisher

Prairie View A&M College

Rights

Date of Digitization

9-10-2021

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

McGowan, C. B. (1952). The Historiography of Carter G. Woodson. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/393