While the house is undergoing necessary renovations, it’s appropriate that the sign in the window still displays what was going on during Black History Month this February, because Dr Woodson started that right here in 1926 (originally just a week). Recognizing the need to study and teach African American History correctly, Dr Woodson devoted his life to building the academic and social foundations to publish and teach. The only person of enslaved parents to earn a PhD in History and the second African American to earn a PhD at Harvard—after WEB Du Bois—, Dr Woodson was also Dean at Howard University. He mentored a great many scholars (Langston Hughes worked here briefly), including many African American women. He was good friends with Mary McLeod Bethune, who ran his historical foundation for 16 years. He wrote eight influential books, started two academic journals, and trained a generation of future historians, intellectuals, authors and Civil Rights activists. Today, Dr Woodson is remembered as the Father of African American History. The expanded home is expected to open later this year with a new visitor center.