2026 Daniel Roselle Award Recipient

Robert L. Woodson, Sr.

The Daniel Roselle Award is the conference’s signature honor, presented to an individual whose life’s work advances the teaching and learning of history and civic life.

For 2026, the Middle States Council for the Social Studies is proud to recognize Robert L. Woodson, Sr., Founder and President of the Woodson Center, for his decades of leadership in poverty alleviation, community revitalization, and advocacy for empowering local citizens as agents of their own uplift. His work has influenced educators, policymakers, and grassroots leaders across the nation.

As the 2026 Daniel Roselle Award recipient, Mr. Woodson will deliver the conference keynote address. Drawing on more than half a century of experience—from his early civil-rights activism in the 1960s to his current role leading the Woodson Center—he will share stories of resilience, neighborhood-based innovation, and the importance of presenting students with truthful yet hopeful narratives about America’s past and future.

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. is the Founder and President of the Woodson Center, a national organization dedicated to strengthening communities, reducing poverty, and equipping local leaders to drive change from within. A trusted advisor to local, state, and federal officials—as well as to business and philanthropic leaders—he has been a prominent voice on issues of neighborhood renewal and opportunity for more than five decades.

Mr. Woodson’s activism began in the 1960s, when as a young civil-rights leader he helped design and coordinate community revitalization efforts across the country. In the 1970s, he directed the National Urban League’s Administration of Justice division and later served as a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

A frequent commentator in print and broadcast media, he has appeared on C-SPAN, CNN, Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Mark Levin Show, Meet the Press, and other national and local programs. His commentary and analysis have been featured in outlets such as The Hill, The Washington Examiner, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, National Review, The Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and leading law and public-policy journals.

Mr. Woodson’s contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the Bradley Prize, the Presidential Citizens Medal, the William Wilberforce Award, The Heritage Foundation’s Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship, Hillsdale College’s Freedom Leadership Award, and many other distinctions.

He is also the author of several books, including On the Road to Economic Freedom; The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods; Lessons From the Least of These: The Woodson Principles; the #1 bestseller Red, White and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers; and A Pathway to American Renewal: Red, White, and Black, Volume II.

Conference attendees are invited to explore the Woodson Center’s Black history and excellence curriculum, a free supplemental resource designed to present students with historically grounded stories of struggle, achievement, and hope. The curriculum features powerful case studies—from pioneering mathematician Katherine Johnson and aviation trailblazer Bessie Coleman to the barrier-breaking “Golden 13” and communities like Covert, Michigan—that highlight individual responsibility, perseverance, and civic virtue.

These lessons have been positively reviewed by the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Education Policy and have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times by public, private, and charter schools; homeschool networks; community and faith-based programs; and adult education initiatives nationwide. Each unit includes teacher-ready slide decks, discussion activities, assessments, standards alignment, and links to multimedia content, making it easy to integrate into history, civics, English language arts, and social-emotional learning courses.

We are also pleased to share the American Heroes video series, which brings to life many of the figures and stories featured in the Woodson Center curriculum. These short, student-friendly animations spotlight Black Americans whose courage, innovation, and moral leadership helped shape the nation.

The Daniel Roselle Keynote address and luncheon is generously sponsored by Discovery Education.

The Middle States Council for the Social Studies appreciates the generosity of Discovery Education, and all of our sponsors.

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