By J. Pamela Stills
Special to the AFRO
Dec. 19 marked the 149th birthday of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. In celebration, the National Park Service (NPS) hosted a birthday celebration on Dec. 14 at Dunbar High School located at 101 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. The location is significant, as Dunbar High School is the country’s first Black public high school. As part of the birthday celebration, the NPS presented the 2025 National Theme: African Americans and Labor.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson is known as the “Father of Black History” because of his life’s work. In 1915, he co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History which is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The organization informed society about the contributions of Black Americans in the formation of the country, its history and culture. He is also remembered as a renowned author, with one of his most notable titles, “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” still widely read today.
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(l to r) John Fowler, II, Master of Ceremonies; Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, President-Elect of ASALH; Dr. Pero Dagvbovie, Keynote Speaker; Robert C. Warren, Jr. Esq., former Third District Representative; Robert Santon, NPS Director, Retired; Michael Commisso, Deputy Superintendent. Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Michael Bowie, Musical Director of the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra. Mr. Bowie introduces the Finn Murphy Quartet to perform at the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Members of the Finn Murphy Quartet, Finn Murphy (piano), Max Bleiweis (Bass), Simon McCormic (drums) and Amir Lawrence (Saxaphone). performs at the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Quartet members are all under 18 years of age. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Layla Bunch performs My Funny Valentine, while Amir Lawrence, member of Finn Murphy Quartet looks on and Max Bleiweis plays bass during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Park Ranger Inez Henry sings the Black National Anthem during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Robert C. Warren, Jr. Esq, former Third District Representative delivers remarks during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, President-Elect of ASALH delivers a powerful messae to the audience during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. In her message, Dr. Whitehead told the audience, we need to be brave in this moment. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Whitney Croom, member of the Kiamsha Youth Empowerment Organization, begins the introductions of fellow members who are descendents of notable Black historians during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Ayanna Toms, member of the Kiamsha Youth Empowerment Organization introduces herself during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Ayanna is the great, great grand-niece of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. Ayanna told the audience her aunt fought for racial and gender equality, especially for Black women in the workplace. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Caleb Wilson, member of the Kiamsha Youth Empowerment Organization introduces himself during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Caleb is the great grandson of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. Caleb told the audience his great grandfather created the summer youth employment program in D.C., adding his great grandfather’s work has shown him that opportunities are key to building strong futures. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Members of the Kiamsha Youth Empowerment Organization spoke about the influence their relatives, who have Black history significance, had on them during the Carter G. Woodson birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (l to r) Whitney Croom, Denise Nolan, Caleb Wilson, Miracle Davis, Marc MacAdams, Sarah Robinson, Samuel Bradley, and Ayanna Toms. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Dr. Pero Dagvovie, keynote speaker, poses beside a display of the postage stamp of Carter G. Woodson during the birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. The stamp was issued in 1984 as part of the Black Heritage Stamp Series. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
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Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site located in the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The house became a unit of the National Park Service in 2006birthday celebration at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, December 14, 2024. (AFRO Photos / J.Pamela Stills)
John Fowler II, NPS supervisory park ranger, presided over the celebration, which kicked off with a jazz selection from the Finn Murphy Quartet. Members of the quartet are all under the age of 18. The musical tribute included a solo of the song, “My Funny Valentine,” by Layla Bunch. Layla, 16, is a student at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and is the 2025 Virginia E. Hayes Williams opera prize winner.
Featured speakers of the event included Robert C. Warren Jr.; Mr. Robert Stanton, a retired NPS director, and Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president-Elect of the ASALH. The keynote speaker, Dr. Pero Dagbovie, is the lead historian consultant for the restoration of the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Dagbovie is the former editor of the Journal of African American History, the leading scholarly journal in its field founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1916. He is the university distinguished professor at Michigan State University in the department of history, vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral studies and dean of the graduate school.
During his remarks, Dr. Dagbovie, spoke of Dr. Woodson in the 1930s, who served as caretaker of what is now the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in exchange for a place to live free of charge. Dr. Woodson used the home as his base of operations for the early Black history movement– a movement that required and depended upon a lot of Black labor.
Born in New Canton, Va. in 1875, Dr. Woodson passed away April 3, 1950. The Woodson House was added to the national historic sites in February 2006.
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