Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site

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Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site

Welcome to the official page of the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site.

Woodson Home National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service.

06/01/2026

Juneteenth is coming up soon, and we’ve got an exciting celebration planned for the weekend!

Join us for “Juneteenth at Anacostia Park — It’s Up to Us,” an afternoon honoring liberation through the powers of community, art, and self-reliance. Held on June 21 at the Roller Skating Pavilion from 3 – 6 PM, this public event invites you to Learn, Make, Move, and Share your freedom by:

👜 Creating your own tote bags!
🕺 Joining in on some line dancing!
💡Delving into local history + stories of community resilience!
🙌 And more *free* activities!

Good vibes, great people, and a grand time await you in Anacostia, so come out for some joyous Juneteenth fun! We hope to see you there!

Learn more about this occasion 👉 https://go.nps.gov/anac/juneteenth

Photo: NPS / Gabby Napolitano

05/29/2026

Dr. Carter G. Woodson's publications are well-known, but let's take a moment to highlight his younger sister Bessie Woodson Yancey, an accomplished educator and writer in her own right.

Focusing more on poetry, she only had one publication to her name, a 1939 book of poetry entitled "Echoes from the Hills", written from the perspective of an African American woman living in Appalachia during the early 1900s. Even though this was her only discrete published work, it was still a historic achievement.

Later, scholars would define her unique perspective by the term "Affrilachian," and remark on her being among the field's pioneers (as one of the first who directed much of her writing toward children). She continued to send further poems and commentary, both about personal experiences and advocacy for a better world, to newspapers, and many of them were published that way as well.

How has your family influenced who you are today?

NPS Photo: The Guyandotte River, along the banks of which Bessie Woodson Yancey lived when she began her poetry career.

05/26/2026

National Capital Parks - East is excited to announce a brand-new Trail Ambassador volunteer position! This role involves monitoring and maintaining sections of the Civil War Defenses of Washington Trail in southeast/northeast Washington, DC.

The trail winds 6.5 miles from Fort Mahan Park to Fort Stanton Park through other Civil War-era forts and can be traversed in either direction. As a Trail Ambassador, you’ll select a portion of the pathway to regularly walk, report on, and conserve, proving indispensable in:

--Informing Park Service staff of trail conditions 🌱
--Actively working to improve trail quality ⛏️
--Assisting visitors and answering questions 🙋
--Removing litter & invasive species 🗑️🥀

Eager for some adventuring? Learn more about being a Trail Ambassador and apply to join 👉 https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000NJkd1YAD

With your help, the trail shall prevail!

Photo: NPS / Conall Rubin-Thomas

05/25/2026

Before the books, before the academics, before ever teaching, future-Dr. Carter G. Woodson was already making a name for himself as a local intellectual resource. While working in the coal mines in Fayette County, West Virginia as a young man, he started visiting the home of one Oliver Jones. A Black veteran of the Civil War much like Dr. Woodson's own father, Jones opened his home as a social space for miners once the workday was done, serving ice cream and fresh fruit. When he learned that Dr. Woodson could read, Jones engaged him to read newspapers and books that centered Black perspectives in history to him and his patrons (many of whom could not read for themselves) in exchange for "all the nice things I wanted to eat," as Dr. Woodson himself later put it. He cited this activity, reading and sharing stories he otherwise would not have known, as expanding his horizons. It is not hard to see why he went the way he went later on!

What special skills do you use to give back to your community?

Photo: A railroad bridge built to serve the coal industry in Fayette County, WV, near where future-Doctor Woodson got his start sharing knowledge with others (NPGallery).

05/24/2026

The Associated Publishers, which Dr Woodson ran from his home/office, may be better known today for his books and the other long-form volumes they released, but it's important to remember that they also produced several periodicals regularly. These resources, whether focused on educators or just curious learners, had to be written, set, published, and delivered many times per year, as opposed to the simple (if longer) print run for full books; it may not have been as glamorous as the other work, but this sort of work made up the backbone of what needed to be done at this office.

What are some of the important but not-so-glamorous things that need to be done around your workplace?

Image Credit: NPS

05/13/2026

👀Looking for a fun weekend activity? You've found one! 🎉

Head to nearby Stanton Park this Saturday morning to help remove invasive plants, clean up litter, trim hedges, and more! 🌿🗑️

Register to join here ⬇️ https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000NVn0nYAD

Photo: NPS/Conall Rubin-Thomas

05/05/2026

Albert Bushnell Hart was an American historian, writer, and editor based at Harvard University.

In 1909, he played an important role in enabling his former student, W. E. B. DuBois, to deliver his paper "Reconstruction and Its Benefits" to the American Historical Association in New York. This essay was expanded as the book "Black Reconstruction in America" in 1935 and proved to be a seminal work in moving historical discussion of the Reconstruction period away from the views of the Dunning School.

The Dunning School was an historiographical school of thought regarding the Reconstruction period of American history supporting conservative elements against the Radical Republicans who introduced civil rights in the South. The school of thought was named after Columbia University professor William Archibald Dunning. Aside from being the advisor for Dr. DuBois' doctoral dissertation, Hart was also the advisor (along with Edward Channing) for Dr. Carter G. Woodson's dissertation.

Image Credit: Albert Bushnell Hart (1854-1943) Print and Photograph Division, Library of Congress

04/28/2026

The International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the first successful Black labor union. They had a local chapter office around the corner from Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s office-home from 1943 to 1978.

The union was created to increase the wages and improve the working conditions of Black railroad porters, attendants and maids. A job as a Pullman Porter was considered one of the more successful jobs for a Black American and it helped to grow the Black middle class. They were known for providing first class train accommodations.

Unfortunately, a lot of these men were denied individualism, always being referred to as "George," after George Pullman, and forced to keep up a stereotype of dutiful service that painfully echoed enslavement. Recognizing the injustices in their work and how their image was used to sell an outdated and harmful ideal to rail passengers, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters acted to fundamentally change America’s ideas of race, labor, and organization at the time.

They went on to play a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for fair employment and an end segregation. Randolph worked with Bayard Rustin in the planning of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Some of the plannings took place at the home.

Image Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USF34-9058-C]

04/20/2026

🌞Spring in full swing means it's time for some cleaning, and nearby Lincoln Park could sure use some help clearing litter and debris on Saturday! 🚯🧹

Sign up & get more info⏬ https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volopprecord?listing=a09SJ00000MruaTYAR

Photo: NPS/Claire Hassler

04/17/2026

During the 1900s, millions of African Americans fled segregation and poverty in southern states to northern cities where the promise of more civil rights, jobs and opportunity gradually saw one of the largest migrations in human history take place over decades. Black communities who were terrorized by Jim Crow segregation and rampant lynchings left in search of safety. It was a massive upheaval that saw some of the largest cities have their populations swell with millions of Black citizens, many arriving with no connections, jobs or homes.

Local Black communities stepped in to help settle newly arrived migrants with finding a place to stay, employment and support. Schools, churches and charity groups were pivotal in helping many adjust to life in big cities, finding stability and community in the process.

Pictured above is a letter to Bethlehem Baptist Association in Chicago, Illinois, by a Mrs. Adams, a new arrival to Chicago looking for work.

Image Credit: Letter from Mrs. J. H Adams, Macon, Georgia, to the Bethlehem Baptist Association in Chicago, Illinois,] 1918. Holograph. Carter G. Woodson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Address

1538 9th Street NW
Washington D.C., DC
20001

Telephone

+17712081499

Website

http://www.nps.gov/cawo

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