Black History Month
February marks the beginning of Black History Month - an annual celebration that has existed since 1926.
Much of the credit can go to Harvard Scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who was determined to bring Black History into the mainstream public arena. Woodson devoted his life to making "the world see the Negro as a participant rather than as a lay figure in history."
Carter G. Woodson was once known as the “Father of Black History” because he was instrumental in the founding of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. It was founded in 1915. He was a significant scholar who promoted the history and achievements of African Americans.
Carter Woodson was born in New Canton, Virginia, in 1875 which was ten years after the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, was written into law. Most of his family had been slaves and were set free. Although they had freedom they were poor like most freed slaves of African descent in the United States. Woodson had worked throughout his early years of school just to support his family. When Woodson started to attend school he was way past his teen years.
Because of Woodson’s independence he taught himself how to read by reading in his spare time. As a result of him teaching himself to read he was able to complete high school and in 1903 he graduated with honors from Berea College. Berea College was a unique college that was located in the slave state of Kentucky. The college was founded in 1855 and introduced integrated education in the 19th century and thus permitted the enrollment of African Americans. Because Kentucky had profited from the slave market, 1 year after Woodson graduated integrated schooling became illegal. Wood son wrote about the social customs and laws that served as obstacles to the progression of “the Negro race.” After he recorded these events he pursued his interest in the study of African American history.
In 1907 and 1908, respectively, Woodson earned an undergraduate degree and his M. A. from the University of Chicago. Just four years after completing graduate training at the University of Chicago, he was awarded the doctorate from Harvard. This educational background in the country's leading universities challenged Woodson's creative imagination. He became increasingly interested in documenting for the permanent historical record the talents and accomplishments of the sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters of slaves.
Dr. Woodson is known for writing the contributions of black Americans into the national spotlight, received a Ph.D. at Harvard University. He founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1915, founded the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Woodson devoted most of his life to studying and writing about the African American experience. His best known work is probably The Mis-Education of the Negro. Among his other books are The Negro in Our History, The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861, The Story of the Negro Retold, A Century of Negro Migration, and The Negro Professional Man and the Community.
In 1926 Woodson organized the first annual Negro History Week, which took place during the second week of February. Woodson chose this date to co-incide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln - two men who had greatly impacted the black population.
Over time, Negro History Week evolved into the Black History Month that we know today - a four-week-long celebration of African American History.
Links on Black History Month:
http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory/
http://www.blackhistory.com/
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html
http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/
- Article source: http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/
