What is Black History Month and how did it get started?
In February of each and every year, we celebrate Black History Month. This tradition was started by Carter G. Woodson in the bicentennial year of 1976. Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875, a son of former slaves in New Canton, Virginia. Coming into the world just ten years after the 13th amendment was passed – abolishing slavery, he became a noted Black scholar and historian. In 1915, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. On February 12, 1926, he started the first “Negro History Week”. He chose the second week of February to coincide with birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass because these men had such an impact on black history. Until 1976, the second week in February was celebrated as Negro History Week by African Americans. During the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial Celebration, Negro History Week was expanded into “Black History Month” and is widely celebrated each year by Americans. Carter G. Woodson died in April 3, 1950 but his legacy to the Afr
