He challenged the civil-rights orthodoxy that the poor need big government to rise.

By the Editorial Board

The American civil-rights movement has many heroes, and one of the most unsung was Robert L. Woodson Sr. The native of South Philadelphia, who died Tuesday at age 89, made his mark in the tradition of Booker T. Washington by arguing that the best path for empowering minorities and the poor is helping them lift up themselves.

Raised by a single mother after his father died soon after his birth, Woodson dropped out of high school to join the Air Force. He earned his high-school GED as an airman and went on to get degrees at Cheyney University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Subscribers can real the full op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.