Howard D. Woodson was born April 26, 1876 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Western Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) with a degree in civil engineering in 1899, becoming one of the first African-American men to do so. Woodson began his career working in the Pittsburgh area for companies such as the Carnegie Steel Company, the American Bridge Company, the Pittsburgh Coal Company, and the D. H. Burnham Company. He also worked for the United States Navy. In 1907, he moved to Washington, D.C. and began his long career with the Public Buildings Administration. Woodson continued working for the PBA until 1943, when he retired and began a private structural engineering practice.

Woodson lived at a number of addresses in the Northeast quadrant of the District, including 1450 S Street NE, 18 Quincy Place NE, 5008 Fitch Place NE, and 4918 Fitch Place NE. He took a particular interest in Northeast’s infrastructure, and was instrumental in improving the sewer systems, widening roads such as Benning Road, and having a bridge built over the Anacostia River at East Capitol Street. Woodson was also the founder of many Northeast civic associations, including the Northeast Boundary Civic Association, the Far Northeast Council, the Far Northeast Business and Professional Association, and the National Technical Association. In recognition of his work, Woodson High School at 5500 Eads Street NE was named in his honor.

Woodson also served as a Sunday school superintendent at the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church on M Street NW. Metropolitan A. M. E. was born out of segregation and discrimination in the Nation’s capital. African-American members of the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church left the congregation in 1821 and formed their own church; they petitioned for and were granted acceptance by the National African Methodist Episcopal Church. These members began the Israel A. M. E. Church in 1821 and eventually joined up with the Union Bethel A. M. E. Church in 1870 (taking the name Metropolitan in 1872). The church has a long history of being on the forefront of African-American causes, including slavery and civil rights. Civil rights leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, and others have preached in their pulpit. The church was also the site of inaugural prayer services for the Clinton-Gore presidential administrations. H. D. Woodson eventually left the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church and joined the congregation of the Sargent Memorial Presbyterian Church. He remained a member of this congregation until his death in March 1962.