Black History Month
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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 noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. 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.
The celebration of Black History Month began as “Negro History Week,” which was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher. It became a month-long celebration in 1976.
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Spurred by growing racial violence in the early 20th century, and particularly by 1908 race riots in Springfield, Illinois, a group of African American leaders joined together to form a new permanent civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). READ MORE: The NAACP is founded
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Jack Johnson became the first African American man to hold the World Heavyweight Champion boxing title in 1908. He held onto the belt until 1915. READ MORE: Jack Johnson wins heavyweight title
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John Mercer Langston was the first Black man to become a lawyer when he passed the bar in Ohio in 1854. When he was elected to the post of Town Clerk for Brownhelm, Ohio, in 1855 Langston became one of the first African Americans ever elected to public office in America.
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While Rosa Parks is credited with helping to spark the Civil Rights movement when she refused to give up her public bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955–inspiring the Montgomery Bus Boycott—the lesser-known Claudette Colvin was arrested nine months prior for not giving up her bus seat to white passengers. READ MORE: 10 Things You May Not Know About Rosa Parks
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Thurgood Marshall was the first African American ever appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from 1967 to 1991.
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George Washington Carver developed 300 derivative products from peanuts among them cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics. READ MORE: How George Washington Carver Went From Slave to Educational Pioneer
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Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He represented the state of Mississippi from February 1870 to March 1871.
READ MORE: The First Black Man Elected to Congress Was Nearly Blocked From Taking His Seat
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Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives. She was elected in 1968 and represented the state of New York. She broke ground again four years later in 1972 when she was the first major party African American candidate and the first female candidate for president of the United States. READ MORE: 'Unbought and Unbossed': Why Shirley Chisholm Ran for President
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Madam C.J. Walker was born on a cotton plantation in Louisiana and became wealthy after inventing a line of African American hair care products. She established Madame C.J. Walker Laboratories and was also known for her philanthropy.
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In 1940, Hattie McDaniel was the first African American performer to win an Academy Award—the film industry’s highest honor—for her portrayal of a loyal slave governess in Gone With the Wind.
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On April 5, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. He led the league in stolen bases that season and was named Rookie of the Year. READ MORE: 11 Things You May Not Know About Jackie Robinson
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Robert Johnson became the first African American billionaire when he sold the cable station he founded, Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2001.
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In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Black president of the United States.
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Origins of Black History Month
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.
READ MORE: The Man Behind Black History Month
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 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.”
WATCH: 10 Things You Don't Know About: Civil Rights on HISTORY Vault
Black History Month 2021 Theme
Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme.
The Black History Month 2021 theme, “Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity” explores the African diaspora, and the spread of Black families across the United States.
READ MORE: Black History Milestones
Photo Galleries
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1972-78 and was the first African American congresswoman from the Deep South. In 1976, she became the first African American woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
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Rosa Parks (1913-2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States and later became one of its primary organizers when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. READ MORE: Before the Bus, Rosa Parks Was a Sexual Assault Investigator
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Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hamer was the vice-chairperson of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, as well as a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which organized the Freedom Summer voter registration drives.
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Angela Davis (1944-) is a Black feminist activist and academic, known for her affiliation with the Communist Party and connection to a politically charged murder and kidnapping case in 1970. After her acquittal, she became an educator and author.
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Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) was the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, representing New York's 12th congressional district. In 1972, she made history again by becoming the first Black woman of a major party to run for a presidential nomination. READ MORE: Shirley Chisholm: Facts About Her Trailblazing Career
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Carol Moseley Braun (1947-) was elected in 1992 to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate, a seat she held until 1998. She was the first African American woman elected to the Senate.
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Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-), one of the longest serving African American women in Congress, has represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas since 1995.
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Susan Rice (1964-), appointed by Barack Obama in 2009, was the first African American woman to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Later she became U.S. national security advisor. In 2021, Joe Biden tapped her to run the White House Domestic Policy Council.
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Kamala Harris (1964-), California's former attorney general and later senator, is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president, and the first African American and first Asian American vice president.
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