Woodson and Wesley: A Partnership in Building the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History

Charles Harris Wesley stated in his work, Neglected History: Essays in Negro-American History By A College President, that: The movement to organize an historical society for the study of the history of the Negro people had several beginnings, including the Civil War period and its aftermath. At the National Equal Rights Convention on December 8, 1873, a resolution was adopted stating this period seemed to be 'a proper time to create a national historical and statistical association, for the purpose herein set forth, having its membership throughout each state, wherein may be gathered all such facts, historical and statistical, in relation to the Negro race in America, for the reference of all who desire to know the true history of what our life-long opponents have conceded to be the most remarkable race measured by their surroundings and advantages our country has produced.'(1) Toward the end of the nineteenth century, several Negro historical societies were established: the American Negro Historical Society, organized in 1892 in Philadelphia; the Negro Society for Historical Research, founded by John E. Bruce and Arthur A. Schomburg in Yonkers, New York; and the American Negro Academy, founded in 1897 in Washington, D.C. These three organizations collected and published historical data pertaining to African-Americans. The organizations mentioned above tended to be regional in their outlook and received little national acclaim. However, the American Negro Academy received somewhat greater publicity because of the prominent authors that were among its membership: William E.B. Du Bois, Kelly Miller, Alexander Crummell, Jesse E. Moorland, Archibald H. Grimke and William Scarborough.(2) The degree of support from the black community, however, was not enough to sustain membership in these organizations. It was the pioneering endeavors of Carter Godwin Woodson in 1915 to establish the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History [hereafter referred to as the Association], which brought wider national attention to the life and history of black Americans. This was a task many others had unsuccessfully attempted to accomplish. The name of the organization was changed to the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History by a majority vote of the membership at the 53rd annual meeting in New York, October 3-6, 1968.(3) Subsequently, the president, Dr. J. Rupert Picott began using Afro-American Life and History in 1972 as a way of appeasing the dissenting factions. This essay will use the original name, established by Carter G. Woodson. With hard work, optimism, and enthusiasm, Carter Woodson shaped and led the Association into becoming one of the foremost authorities on the life and history of African-Americans. Woodson possessed certain personality traits, which were pertinent to the type of leadership needed to move the Association forward. He worked long, arduous hours to lay the foundation for a successful organization, and he was able to interest others in this work. Oftimes Woodson contributed two to three hundred dollars of his teacher's salary to insure the operation and continuance of the Association.(4) One of the persons Woodson was able to interest in the work of the Association was Dr. Charles Harris Wesley, an educator and historian. Wesley, at the time, was a teacher at Howard University and a minister in the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal [AME] church. He became a member of the Association in 1916 and worked with Dr. Woodson in several areas in order to promote the work of the organization. Dr. Wesley served the Association as an Investigator and Field Representative; Research Director; and Chairman of the Committee for the Nation-Wide One Dollar Sustaining Membership Drive. After the death of Dr. Woodson, he became its President, and in later years, the Executive Director. Through Woodson, many persons, such as Luther P. …