Why February?
Ever wonder why we celebrate Black History Month in February? Ever wonder who started it? Well, wonder no more. I’ve got answers (thanks to this great article in The Oprah Magazine).
Harvard-educated historian Carter G. Woodson is credited with creating Black History Month. According to Daryl Michael Scott, Woodson got the idea in 1915 after attending a celebration in Illinois for the 50th anniversary of the 13th Amendment, which under Abraham Lincoln's presidency, abolished slavery in 1863 in the Confederate states that seceded from the U.S.
The festivities honoring the proclamation lasted for three weeks, with various exhibits depicting events in African American culture. After seeing this display, Woodson decided to form what is now named the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH), in order to encourage the study of the accomplishments made by Black Americans.
After Woodson wrote The Journal of Negro History in 1916, which chronicled the overlooked achievements of African Americans. Through community outreach, he encouraged his fraternity Omega Psi Phi to promote his work. In 1924, the fraternity responded by creating "Negro Achievement Week."
Two years later Woodson still wanted to make a bigger impact. So in 1926, he and the ASALH officially declared the second week of February to be "Negro History Week," announcing the news through a press release, according to Scott.
"This was celebrated for years and was chosen because of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln on February 12th, and Frederick Douglass on February 14th," says Zebulon Miletsky, the co-chair of the marketing and PR committee for ASALH.
In the 50 years that followed, according to History.com, clubs, schools, and communities across the country began taking part in the week-long celebration. Slowly, more and more U.S. cities (like New York and Chicago), declared official recognition of "Negro History Week."
Consequentially, the ASALH expanded the recognition to Black History Month. To solidify this change, in 1976, President Ford declared February "Black History Month" in a commemorative speech. He urged citizens to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
On this day in…
1704, Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opened school for Blacks in New York City.
1708, Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island (N.Y.). Seven whites killed. Two Black male slaves and an Indian slave were hanged, and a Black woman was burned alive.
1778, Rhode Island General Assembly in precedent-breaking act authorized the enlistment of slaves.
1859, Arkansas legislature required free Blacks to choose between exile and enslavement.
1879, Southern Blacks fled political and economic exploitation in "Exodus of 1879." Exodus continued for several years. One of the major leaders of the Exodus movement was a former slave, Benjamin ("Pap") Singleton.
1932, Richard Spikes invented/patented automatic gear shift.
1943, Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway with Anne Brown and Todd Duncan in starring roles.
1984, Musician and entertainer Michael Jackson wins eight Grammy Awards. His album, "Thriller", broke all sales records to-date, and remains one of the top-grossing albums of all time.
1990, Philip Emeagwali awarded the Gordon Bell Prize (computing's Nobel Prize) for solving one of the twenty most difficult problems in the computing field.
Many of the facts I’ve been posting have come from Black Facts, while others have come from general Internet searches.
More to Learn
I’ve been following Rachel Cargle on Instagram for a while now, and she posted a prompt each day this month, encouraging her followers to research and learn about a piece of Black history for which we may have been previously unaware. Here is the list of prompts for your own research, should you be so inclined.
Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project
1680 Landing
Compensated Emancipation Act
Black Cowboys
Black Wall Street
The Chitlin Circuit
Black National Anthem
Birmingham Children’s Crusade
Black Panther Ten Point Plan
National Association of Colored Women
Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee
Combahee River Collective
Black Emergency Culture Coalition
National Coalition of 100 Black Women
Florynce Kennedy
Anna Julia Cooper
Matthew Alexander Henson
Gordon Parks
Katherine Dunham
Betty Davis
Augusta Savage
Black Life on Martha’s Vineyard
Institute for Colored Young and HBCUs
The Divine Nine
Womanism
I definitely learned some things through my lookup of her prompts. Why so much of Black history has been left out of textbooks is maddening. Everyone should be learning about these things. I’m happy to be learning about them now, and am thankful for people like Rachel who are willing to take their time - when they absolutely don’t have to - to educate those who want to learn.
I hope you’ve learned a few things this month. Please feel free to share in the comments. The image below is from the Cleveland Public Library.