Historical Content: Carter G. Woodson (born December 19, 1875, New Canton, Virginia, U.S.—died April 3, 1950, Washington, D.C.) was an American historian who first opened the long-neglected field of Black studies to scholars and popularized the field in schools and colleges across the United States. He established, in 1926, what became Black History Month, and he came to be known as the “father of Black history.”