Attachment_B_-_CAWO_Text_Level_IV_FINAL_03_House_20210319a_0002.docx

CAWO Carter G. Woodson Home NHS Final Documents 20210319

Scene 03 House Tour: Level IV Production Text

· Final copy for production

Scene 03 House Tour: Outline for media elements (blue cells)

· Outline-level content for media elements including storylines, featured individuals, references, sources

· Media elements are highlighted in blue below. Please see Project Book 4: Media for treatments that accompany this content.

Notes:

· Please see associated Style Guide for grammar and word choice guidelines

· Some image credits are in progress as image licensing wraps up. Contractor will alert NPS of any changes and will provide a new production file.

The exhibit’s Big Idea: Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, started a movement to uplift people through knowledge.[footnoteRef:1] [1: As drafted by NPS and ASALH content team, 20190712]

Section, Content Group

03.02

Reception

CE-03.02-002

Office Home Tactile Maps [labels]

Reception Packing room Storeroom

Kitchen Library Office

Living room Bedroom

Stairs Corridors

03.03

Office first floor

EP-03.03

Office ambient soundscape Typewriter clatter, shuffling papers, doorbell ringing, muted voices with potential for a few spoken word quotes about working for Dr. Woodson:

"In the mid-1920s when I worked for Dr. Woodson, he set an example in industry and stick-to-it-tiveness for his entire staff since he himself worked very hard. He did everything from editing The Journal of Negro History to banking the furnace, writing books to wrapping books. One never got the idea that the boss would ask you to do anything that he would not do himself. His own working day extended from early morning to late at night. Those working with him seldom wished to keep the same pace. But he always saw that we had enough to do ahead to keep our own working hours entirely occupied.

One time Dr. Woodson went away on a trip which those of us in his office thought would take about a week. Instead, he came back on the third day and found us all in the shipping room playing cards. Nobody got fired. Instead he requested our presence in his study where he gave us a long and very serious talk on our responsibilities to our work, to history, and to the Negro race. And he predicted that neither we nor the race would get ahead playing cards during working hours.

My job was to open the office in the mornings, keep it clean, wrap and mail books, assist in answering the mail, read proofs, bank the furnace at night when Dr. Woodson was away, and do anything else that came to hand which the secretaries could not do....It may be said truly of Dr. Woodson that never did anyone with so little bring self respect to so many." - Langston Hughes, “When I Worked for Dr. Woodson,” The Negro History Bulletin 13 (May 1950).

Monitor to display ID930.48 students studying when not in active caption mode

03.05

Storage

Woodson used any available space—this storeroom included—for books waiting for shipment. This room alone could hold thousands of volumes.

03.05

Storage Captions

Weighing scales

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

Zuhul Dolly

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

Fairbanks scale

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

Object images (new photography) to be taken of artifacts:

AO-03.05-263

AO-03.05-490

AO-03.05-470

AO-03.05-471

03.06

Study

03.06

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY / WEST VIRGINIA AND REGIONAL HISTORY CENTER

Woodson as editor, around the 1940s © AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES AND RESEARCH CENTER; SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION / © SCURLOCK STUDIO ID164 Woodson with calendar in background

ID172 Woodson with pen in hand, ca 1940s

ID414 Woodson at his desk, EP-03.06

· Compilation, produced piece showing Woodson in his study, commenting on his areas of study

Quotes relating to Woodson at work:

· "(Woodson) brought out the first issue of The Journal of Negro History on January 1, 1916, about three months after the organization of the Association, without even a consultation with his Executive Council. As a result, one member of the Council resigned. In spite of the prediction that the Journal would not live, it has continued through the years and not a single issue has been missed. This first issue was published at a cost of four hundred dollars, most of which were personal funds taken from his salary as a teacher at the Armstrong High School of Washington, DC. During the first three years, annual deficits continued to be made up from Dr. Woodson's small salary. The Journal is now in its 35th year and practically self-supporting. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Woodson organized the Associated Publishers, a private publishing corporation with 90-odd percent of the stock held by himself." - Dr Charles Wesley, on the founding of The Journal of Negro History

· "Do not wait until the last moment to prepare for Negro History Week. The time is nigh at hand. Secure the necessary literature at once and begin to plan immediately to demonstrate to the community what you and your coworkers have learned about the Negro during the year. For free literature write to C. G. Woodson, 1538 Ninth Street N.W., Washington, D.C." - Woodson, 1940[footnoteRef:2] [2: Qtd in Pero Dagbovie, Carter G. Woodson in Washington, D.C., (Charleston: The History Press, 2014), 15.]

· "We have no desire to make money. We seek merely to serve humanity. In the case of the Associated Publishers in Washington, D.C., they have such an establishment which has thus functioned for ten years. Such a publishing house, moreover, renders a much higher service than a purely commercial one. It evaluates the productions presented to it not on the basis of what others may think about them but on the basis of their value in the promotion of the truth. It supplies schools and libraries with valuable information not only as to what this firm has produced but makes the effort to supply the particular needs of institutions. This house undertakes to point out and to assist in securing the most valuable books bearing upon the Negro whether published in this country or abroad." - Woodson on the purpose of Associated Publishers[footnoteRef:3] [3: “Woodson and His Co-Workers Take the Vow of Poverty to Help Race,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, January 7, 1933.]

· "The Association for the study of the Negro is standing like the watchman on the wall, ever mindful of what calamities we have suffered from misinterpretation in the past and looking out with a scrutinizing eye for every thing indicative of a similar attack. The staff, then, must be so enlarged and made so efficient as to furnish on short notice a scientific appraisal of any work on the Negro in America or abroad. A special service in this field is now being rendered by the quarterly publication of such bibliographical survey in The Journal of Negro History, and this will be extended to cover scientific productions in other areas." - Woodson on the purpose of the Association, 1935[footnoteRef:4] [4: “Association on Guard,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, October 17, 1936, 8.]

· "I have never wanted wealth. I do not know what would become of me if I have to spend twenty-five thousand dollars a year on myself. I would rather have an allowance of twelve dollars and a half a week. The only need I have for money is to relieve the stress of others. It would take up too much of my valuable time to devise selfish schemes for throwing away a large fortune, and I would not have time to help humanity." - Woodson, 1932[footnoteRef:5] [5: “The Poverty of the Depression Not Alarming—Woodson, Quoting Many,” Norfolk Journal and Guide, April 2, 1932, 7.]

· "Despite the founding associates, Woodson, our Founder, belonged to the list of post-nineteenth century pioneer personalities in the techniques of American life who believed that it was necessary to work one's plan alone. He had, in this respect, a type of intolerance and self-opinion, which some of us regarded with humor and indulgence because we looked upon the cause as well as the man as equally valuable. This was an aspect of rugged individualism, which has helped to create the greatness of our nation through individual initiative and energy. He belonged to the era, the earmarks of which we hope have not entirely disappeared, when the individual will endeavor to be creative in his contributions and not to act so as merely to imitate work launched by another." Charles Wesley, on Woodson, in the 1965 special summer issue of The Negro History Bulletin celebrating 50 years of ASALH[footnoteRef:6] [6: Charles H. Wesley, NHB 28 (Summer 1965)]

· ID168 is silent footage of Woodson (36 seconds) at his desk filmed in this very room, but which contains no audio. Woodson picks up and reads materials. He appears to speak, but the audio track has been lost.

· ID421 is an audio clip (3 minutes, no imagery) that clearly captures Woodson as he articulates the reason for and history of ASNLH and its Negro History Week, Home Study program, resources for schools and libraries.

· ID383 is moving footage with a synchronized audio track showing Woodson speaking about African American achievements (1 minute). It does not appear to be filmed in the Office Home.

03.07

Library

East doorway

03.07

East doorway

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

Woodson in his library, 1948

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION / © SCURLOCK STUDIO

ID27 Woodson in Library with document in hand, near table

AO-03.07-450 Adding machine object image

03.07

East doorway

03.07

North doorway

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

Woodson in his library, 1948

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION / © SCURLOCK STUDIO

ID411 Woodson in library with foot on stool

AO-03.07-453 step stool object image

Ambient Audio

· Ambient track: Pots and pans, coffee percolating, food sizzling in the pan.

· Spoken word track:

· "Woodson was no snob, no work was too menial for him. He cooked his own breakfast, generally of cereal, bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee in a kitchen at the rear of his office. Many a morning the delicious tell-tale aroma of frying bacon would greet my nostrils as I entered the building. Since Woodson could not afford to hire a janitor, not infrequently of a morning I encountered him attired in pajamas and a shabby bathrobe, broom and dustpan, or mop and pail in hand, cleaning the office. The climax came one morning when I found him down on his hands and knees oiling the floors, and of all things the floor of my office which adjoined his. Ashamed and embarrassed at seeing him do such lowly work, I volunteered to help. But he cut me short with: 'Mr. Greene, I did not hire you to be a janitor.'" - Lorenzo J. Greene[footnoteRef:7] [7: “Dr. Carter G. Woodson: The Man as I Knew Him.” No date. The Papers of Lorenzo Johnston Greene. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Container 92, Folder 1.]

03.10

Bedroom

03.10

THE CARTER G. WOODSON HOME NHS

AO-03.10-447 straight razor and case AO-03.10-448 shirt collars AO-03.10-481 Shoehorn

03.10

EP-03.10

In Memoriam audio "It was my privilege then to know Woodson. Walking and talking were his favorite recreations.... Most of us, a bit younger than Woodson, loved his wit, his humor and even his sarcasm. If you did not know him his sharp tongue could hurt you, but whatever he said was a gem."

- ASNLH co-founder and friend of Woodson, James E. Stamps, recalling Woodson in 1965[footnoteRef:8] [8: Negro History Bulletin, 1965]

"[Woodson's effort] was, perhaps, the most far-reaching and ambitious effort to rewrite history that has even been attempted in this country, But it was more than an attempt to rewrite history, It was a remarkable attempt to rehabilitate a whole people - to explode racial myths, to establish a secure and respectable place for the Negro in the evolution of the American social order, to develop self-respect and self-esteem among those who had been subjected to the greatest indignities known in the Western world. Finally, it was a valiant attempt to force America to keep faith with herself, to remind her that truth is more praiseworthy than power, and that justice and equality, long the state policy of this nation, should apply to all its citizens and even to the writing of history."

- John Hope Franklin, crediting Woodson for launching the era of New Negro History[footnoteRef:9] [9: John Hope Franklin, “The New Negro History,” Journal of Negro History, 1957]

"What we enjoyed most of all were the stories of great Negroes Dr. Woodson told to us orally. Socrates in his hey-day never had two more devoted students than Mrs. Turner and I were. We would sit for hours, spell-bound, while one of the greatest masters of history told us in simple, clear language, facts and dates concerning the characters about whom he wanted us to write. Such a wealth of information, we could have gotten from no other source. Dr. Woodson talked of these personages as if he had known them personally all of his life; and he described so graphically, that we should have been able to recognize any one of them if he or she had walked into the room."

- Jessie H. Roy, "Some Personal Recollections of Dr. Woodson," 1965[footnoteRef:10] [10: Negro History Bulletin, 1965]

"It was my never-to-be-forgotten privilege to hear you Sunday evening and to feel the pride of African ancestry well up within me like it never has been aroused before. My feelings seem to have been typical of all within the hearing of your voice - that sincere voice of yours that at that time seemed to have been the agency of the Spirit. Sometime in the far distant future you will be justly recognized by posterity as the preserver of a great race - by preserving the record of the great deed of that race. Your fame is assured."

- Edward A. Simmons, a Chicago attorney, writing to Woodson after hearing him speak to a crowd of 2000 people, 1940

“[Woodson] knew the value of both experience and training… and applied both, ceaselessly and unstintingly, to his labors for his fellowmen. He scorned nothing that could be used to build a better civilization.”

Mary McLeod Bethune, NHB, May 1950

Excerpts from Bethune’s memorial or obituary to Woodson in The Journal of Negro History, “True Leadership is Timeless,” May 1950, ID965

“With the power of cumulative fact, he moved back the barriers and broadened our vision of the world, and the world’s vision of us.”

· Mary McLeod Bethune[footnoteRef:11] [11: Qtd in Lerone Bennett Jr., “Chronicles of Black History,” 4]