Black History Facts

Black History Month: 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. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

NAACP: 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). February 12, 1909, was chosen because it was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.

Pioneering Lawyer: John Mercer Langston was the first Black man to become a lawyer in Ohio when he passed the bar in 1854. In 1888, Langston ran for Congress, but widespread voter fraud and intimidation initially denied him the seat. After he contested the results, the U.S. House seated him on September 23, 1890, and he served until March 3, 1891. Generations later, Langston's great-nephew and namesake, Langston Hughes, emerged as a renowned poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

Famous Protestors and Activists: 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.

Supreme Court Justice: Thurgood Marshall was the first African American ever appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and served on the court from 1967 to 1991.

Eminent Scientist: 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.

First Senator: 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.

First Woman Representative: 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.

Heavyweight Champ: 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.

MLB Trailblazer: On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black player to compete in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson endured racist abuse to become one of the greatest players in the game. In 1962, he became the first Black athlete inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

First Black Athlete to Compete in International Tennis: Althea Gibson became the first African American to compete in a pro-world tennis tour and in 1956, the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam title. Overall, Gibson garnered 11 Grand Slam wins, including six singles titles. Next, Gibson turned to professional golf and made more history by becoming the first African American competitor on the women’s pro golf tour in the 1960s.

Self-Made Millionaire: Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867 on a cotton plantation in Louisiana and became fabulously wealthy after developing a line of Black hair care products. She founded the Madam C.J. Walker Company in 1910. Walker also helped thousands of Black women gain financial independence as company sales agents and employees at the company’s headquarters in Indianapolis.

Oscar Winner: 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 an enslaved governess in Gone With the Wind.

First Black Billionaire: Before Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan joined the billionaire’s club, Robert Johnson became the first African American billionaire when he sold the cable station he founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2001.

First Black President: In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Black president of the United States.

First Black Vice President: In January 2021, Kamala Harris became the first woman of African or Asian descent to become vice president. Harris's mother immigrated to the United States from India and her father immigrated from Jamaica.

Population Growth: The Black population of the United States in 1870 was 4.8 million. In 2020, the U.S. Census found there were 46.9 million Black residents in the United States—and the number of people identifying with more than one race increased by more than 276 percent since the 2010 census. As of July 1, 2024, the Black population was estimated to represent approximately 12.6 percent of the total U.S. population.