Excerpts from: Black History Month at History.com
Black History Month is the annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.
The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
That September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson, and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent.
The group sponsored a national Negro History Week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs, and host performances and lectures. By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, “Negro History Week” had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses.
President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Today, Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society—from activists and civil rights pioneers such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks to leaders in industry, politics, science, culture and more.
For more information, loads of links to a plethora of fascinating and inspiring stories from history, and more, go to:
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
https://www.blackhistorymonth.gov/
For a BHM toolkit and learnings from the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, go to:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/moments/black-history-month/digital-toolkit
For the digital repository for the Black experience, an educational resource ideal for students, teachers, and institutions, go to: https://www.thehistorymakers.org/
For teaching resources from a variety of sources from the Center for Racial Justice in Education, go to: https://centerracialjustice.org/resources/black-history-month-resource-guide-for-educators-and-families/
Check out our Anti-Racism page for a whole lot more!