Black History: The firsts, the inventors and the greats

By Michelle Sy-Savane, scholarships associate

Origin of Black History Month:
Carter G. Woodson, the “father of Black history,” first set out in 1926 to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture. Woodson envisioned a weeklong celebration to encourage the coordinated teaching of Black history in public schools. He designated the second week of February as Negro History Week and galvanized fellow historians through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which he founded in 1915. (The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History is now named the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.)

February was chosen primarily because the second week of the month coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Lincoln was influential in the emancipation of slaves, and Douglass, a former slave, was a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery. Thus, Woodson created Negro History Week around the two birthdays as a way of “commemorating the black past,” according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The idea eventually grew in acceptance, and by the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month.

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.” Learn more here.

Check out some of our previous posts celebrating Black History Month here.