The Father of Black History

By David from Washington, DC (Carter G. Woodson  Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

While the history of black Americans certainly does not begin with Carter Godwin Woodson, its realized importance is in large part thanks to him.

Carter Woodson was a teacher and historian who was concerned about the preservation of his culture, and convinced that African American history, and the history of other cultures was either overlooked or misrepresented. In 1915 he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). It was in 1926, that he and the Association for the Study of African American Life announced that the second week of February was Negro History Week (which, not so coincidentally, coincided with both Abraham Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass' birthdays) and would place emphasis on the education of African Americans contributions to history.

Negro History Week would eventually grow into Black History Month in 1970, but became officially recognized by the U.S. government in 1979, as part of the United States Bicentennial.

And thus concludes this very, very brief history lesson on the history of Black History Month. Stop by the Law Library to see our Black History Month display, and get some suggested readings on other notable people and moments in African American history.