caption death_date birth_date alt image article_title name occupation
lewis woodson 1878 1806 yes 1806 yes lewis woodson lwpicture.jpg lewis woodson
 lewis woodson american academic
lewis woodson

lewis woodson -lrb- january 1806 -- january 1878 -rrb- was an educator , minister , writer , and abolitionist .
he was an early leader in the african methodist episcopal church -lrb- ame -rrb- in ohio and pennsylvania .
woodson started and helped to build other institutions within the free african-american communities in ohio and western pennsylvania prior to the american civil war .
woodson was among the original 24 trustees to found wilberforce university in ohio in 1856 , in a collaboration between the ame and the cincinnati methodist council .
when the college faced financial difficulties during the american civil war , the ame church bought it from the methodist church in 1863 , making it the first historically black college to be owned and operated by african americans .
