Black History Month it's here and, for many of us in the culture, the history and contributions of our people remain front and center year-round. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Black History Month became the top trending topic and sparked several responses that we've collected below.
Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Past President Daryl Michael Scott shared in an essay on the ASALH website that definitively explains the rich history of Black History Month and its founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
In the summer of 1915 in Chicago, Woodson, who attended the University of Chicago, traveled to the city to participate in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation. With thousands of Blacks in attendance at the event, Woodson and others held exhibits featuring various articles on Black history. For three weeks, crowds flocked to the Coliseum, prompting Woodson to form an organization dedicated to the study of Black life and history. On September 9 of that year, Woodson met with AL Jackson and three others to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).
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He hoped that others would publicize the findings that he and other black intellectuals would publish in The Journal of Negro History, which he founded in 1916. As early as 1920, Woodson urged black civic organizations to promote the achievements that researchers were uncovering. A graduate member of Omega Psi Phi, he urged his brothers to take on the task. In 1924, they responded by creating Negro History and Literature Week, which they renamed Negro Achievement Week. Their approach was important, but Woodson wanted a bigger impact. As he told an audience of Hampton Institute students, “We return to this beautiful story and it will inspire us to greater achievements.” In 1925 he decided that the Association should shoulder the responsibility. Going forward it would create and popularize knowledge about the black past. He sent out a press release announcing Negro History Week in February 1926.
Woodson chose February for reasons of tradition and reform. It is commonly said that Woodson chose February to include the birthdays of two great Americans who played a prominent role in shaping black history, namely Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays are the 12th and 14th, respectively. Most importantly, he chose them for delivery reasons. Since Lincoln's assassination in 1865, the black community, along with other Republicans, has celebrated the fallen President's birthday. And by the late 1890s, black communities across the country were celebrating Douglass. Well aware of pre-existing celebrations, Woodson built Negro History Week around traditional days of remembrance of the black past. He was asking the public to expand their study of black history, not create a new tradition. In this way, he increased his chances of success.
The 1970s saw a wider embrace of a longer period of celebration, something Woodson championed in his own life along with other educators. At the University of Kent, the United Black Students Group and other Black educators joined forces to celebrate Black History Month in 1970.
In 1976, the annual celebration took root across the country after President Gerald Ford recognized the month during the United States' 20th anniversary celebration. Around the world, Black History Month has sprung up at various times with the UK first celebrating the month in 1987, with Germany and Canada joining in the 1990s.
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