Have you ever wondered why February is the designated time for honoring Black History Month? Why not any other month? How did it become what it is today? As important as it is to engage with the stories and voices illuminated by this annual celebration, it is also important to know what Black History Month is, and how it came to be.
First things first: the decision to celebrate Black history in February can be largely attributed to Carter G. Woodson, who is the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History He also holds other titles, such as being an American historian, author, and journalist. In September of 1915, or half a century after the establishment of the 13th Amendment, Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later renamed the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, aka ASALH,) an organization dedicated to researching and giving proper homage to achievements by African Americans. Despite his efforts, Woodson, who was still aggravated by how textbooks and other historical materials completely ignored and diminished the accomplishments and contributions of Black figures to American history, then created “Negro History Week” in 1926 on the second week of February. Here, you may be wondering: the second week of February? Isn’t it supposed to be the entire month?
And to those concerns: Woodson didn’t just arbitrarily throw a dart at the calendar and settle for a random week— he chose the second week of February because it covered the birthdays of two monumental figures in African American history: Abraham Lincoln (2/12) and Frederick Douglass (2/14). Eventually, throughout the following decades, local communities gathered enough support so that mayors across the country were issuing annual acknowledgments of the one-week commemoration for Black history. And finally in the late 1960s, with the increasing surge of support along with the growing Civil Rights movement, “Negro History Week” evolved into Black History Month, finding special support on college campuses.
Then in 1976, President Gerald Ford took the first legal step in making Black History Month a more official celebration, encouraging others to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” And since then, every February has been celebrating the achievements and contributions of African Americans in the U.S. And what’s even more remarkable is that every American president endorses a specific theme to focus on for the month for the year! This year of 2022 has a theme of “Black Health and Wellness,” and if you’re curious about past themes, this site https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/ has an incredibly helpful list of all the themes since 1928! I hope this mini history lesson was helpful in understanding how Black History Month came to be.
Sources + Extra resources for more information:
- https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/91756/why-was-february-chosen-black-history-month
- https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
- https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/uncovering-america/civil-rights.html (particularly interesting for learning about different aspects and perspectives of African American history)