The story of Black History Month begins in 1915,
half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United
States. That September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the
prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and
promoting achievements by black Americans and other peoples of African descent.
Known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and
History (ASALH), the group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926,
choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham
Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities
nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host
performances and lectures.
In the decades that followed, mayors of cities
across the country began issuing yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History
Week. By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the Civil Rights Movement and a
growing awareness of black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black
History Month on many college campuses. President Gerald R. 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." Since then, every American
president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific
theme. In 2010, the theme focused on the history of black economic empowerment
and recognized the achievements of the painter Jacob Lawrence, the entrepreneur
Annie Malone and the National Urban League, a civil rights organization.
