The Father of Black History Month

Black History Month is an 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 Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans.

The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States with the founding of the Association

for the Study of Negor Life and History. In 1926 the group sponsored a national Negro History week, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

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.