2027 Black History Poster and Essay Contests

• College Posters – Kyle Dyer, College/University Poster Committee Chair, Assistant Professor of Art, dyer@marshall.edu
• K-12 Posters – Marisa Main, K-12 Poster Committee Chair, retired Huntington High School teacher, mainmj@comcast.net
• Essays – Crystal Good, Grades10-12 and College/University Essay Competition Chair, Publisher, Black by God newspaper, crystal@blackbygod.org

Dr. Woodson, an 1896 graduate of Douglass High School in Huntington and its principal, 1900-1903. established the celebration of National Negro History Week across the country in 1926 and celebrated the centennial of the Black press in 1927. In a 1928 article, he announced the program was succeeding, and he was especially complimentary of the press for helping him win public support and increasing knowledge about Black contributions in history. He wrote: “The unusual success was due in the first place to the warmhearted support of the press. Newspapers gave ample space to the notices of the celebration and published convincing editorials commending the effort.” Black History was covered as major news by Black newspapers during each of the annual celebrations through 1950, when Woodson died, and it remains a staple of Black media content, as well as mainstream media. Support for history was just one of their areas of interest. The Black press provided major support for the well-being of Black communities and America over the past 200 years – covering slavery, emancipation, wars, post-war issues, civil rights movements, entertainment and sports.

A century ago, Dr. Woodson celebrated the Centennial of the Black press when he honored the founding of the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal. Now, The Lyceum is following in Dr. Woodson’s footsteps by honoring two centuries of the work of the Black newspapers. Overall, journalism in 1927 had a promising future, and the Black press, although segregated from mainstream journalism, was thriving and powerful. Woodson partnered with Black newspapers to educate America about the contributions of African Americans in history and wrote hundreds of columns in support of this cause. Nowadays, there are questions about the health of the news industry, and the transition of journalism from print to digital is ripe for examination.

The annual National Black History Theme is created by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an organization founded by Dr. Woodson. The Lyceum’s 2027 theme is based on the national theme. ASALH stated in its executive summary that “the rise of the internet reshaped how Black Americans created and shared media. Websites, blogs, and digital forums gave Black people new spaces to be creative, engage with activist work, and tell their stories outside the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, as well as new avenues for economic opportunity.” The executive summary, however, warns that the age of artificial intelligence and digital present major challenges for Black media and culture (2027 Black History Theme Executive Summary).

Celebrating the bicentennial of the Black press is an opportunity for students to explore the challenges of free speech and freedom of the press during times when the exercise of such rights could not be taken for granted. During World War II, for instance, the Black press was under scrutiny because many journalists advocated winning the war abroad and the one for civil rights at home (“Double V”). Students may also want to consider the impact of various events and movements (how journalists covered them, for example). Some outstanding journalists: Frederick Douglass, the nineteenth century’s leading Black journalist as well as an author and statesman; Robert Abbott, owner of the Chicago Defender who probably became America’s first Black millionaire; Wendell Smith, a Pittsburgh Courier reporter whose contributions were depicted in the movie “42” as an advocate for the integration of Major League Baseball; Ida B. Wells, who crusaded against lynching and for women’s rights; Isaac Knapp who collaborated with William Lloyd Garrison to publish The Liberator, one of the major abolitionist newspapers; and John Johnson, owner of Ebony and Jet magazines, whose journalists chronicled the Civil Rights era, including the Emmet Till case. Dr. Woodson himself, a Harvard-trained historian, also may be considered a journalist because he was a regular columnist and contributor to the press; he was the founder of major Black publications (Journal of Negro History and Negro History Bulletin) that included news. As such, students entering the poster and essay contests may consider the impact of the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal (1827) and/or other communications vehicles or individuals associated with the Black press. How AI and digital may impact Black media and culture are also welcomed. Feel free to contact Professor Morris is you want to run an idea by him.

Please feel free to consult the following resources:

• Our contest theme closely follows the National Black History Theme for 2027. You may find it helpful: 2027 Black History Theme Executive Summary,
• What Carter G. Woodson thought about Black press contributions to Black History Week:
  Woodson, C. G. “Negro History Week-The Third Year.” The Journal of Negro History 13, no. 2 (1928): 121–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/2713958.
• The National Black History Theme and Executive Summary
  2027 Black History Theme Executive Summary
• An essay about Woodson’s contributions and several mentions of the Black journalists:
  Morris, B. R. “Carter G. Woodson: A Century of Making Black Lives Matter,” 12366495.12.pdf.
• A book about Woodson and the Black press:
  Morris, B. R. Carter G. Woodson: History, the Black Press, and Public Relations, University Press of Mississippi, 2017 and 2018.
• An article about a Woodson/Black press partnership:
  Morris, B. R. “A Woodson Legacy: The Black Press Partnership,” Journal of African American History, v. 108, pp. 699-704.

The Woodson Lyceum at Marshall University was created in 2016. It takes its name from Aristotle’s first school, which was called a lyceum, but the name also is associated with justice and freedom for African Americans as well as a free press. During a speech at a lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln attacked vigilantes for the murder of abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy. Crusading journalist Ida B. Wells brought attention to injustice at a Memphis lyceum and through that lyceum’s newspaper. The name also is associated with a major civil rights victory at the University of Mississippi Lyceum, where rioters in 1962 stormed the building but did not prevent the registration of James Meredith, the university’s first Black student. At Marshall University, The Woodson Lyceum is a collaboration between Drinko Academy and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism & Mass Communications – a Woodson-inspired forum on Black History, education and a free press. Since its inception, The Woodson Lyceum has produced programs involving leading figures in their fields, including Dr. Earl Lewis, who was president of the Mellon Foundation; Dr. Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress; former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams; Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, the first African American to chair the Department of History at Harvard; Dr. Kasonya Whitehead, new president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which Woodson founded in 1915; Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, former dean of liberal arts at Norfolk State University; Dr. Ericke Cage, president of West Virginia State University; and Brent Leggs, executive director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The Woodson Lyceum also has trained hundreds of West Virginia teachers in Black History instruction and on civility issues. It sponsors the Annual Black History Poster Competitions and supports the Annual Black History Essay Competition.