<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Good Morning:<br>
<br>
We were recently discussing The History of Black History of it made us
wonder how many of you know how this celebration came to be. So today
our focus is on <br>
The History of Black History. <br>
<br>
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as
"Negro History Week," and later as "Black History Month." What you
might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied -
or even documented - when the tradition originated. Although blacks
have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not
until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the
history books.<br>
<br>
We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly,
the study of black history, to <b>Dr. Carter G. Woodson</b>. Born to
parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the
Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He
graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from
Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history
books largely ignored the black American population - and when blacks
did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected
the inferior social position they were assigned at the time. Woodson,
always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of
writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the
Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the
Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915,
and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro
History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to
bring national attention to the contributions of black people
throughout American history.<br>
<br>
Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week
because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the
black American population. Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
However, February has much more that Douglass and Lincoln to show for
its significance in black American history. Did you know:<br>
<br>
February 23, 1868: W.E. B. DuBois, an important civil rights leader
and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.<br>
<br>
February 3, 1870: The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the
right to vote.<br>
<br>
February 25, 1870: The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels
(1822-1901), took his oath of office.<br>
<br>
February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and
white citizens in New York City.<br>
<br>
February 1, 1960: In what would become a civil-rights movement
milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a
sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter.<br>
<br>
February 21, 1965: Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black
Nationalism, was shot to death by three Black Muslims.<br>
<br>
These are some of the people and events that make February the perfect
month to place a focus on Black History. We wait for the day when
Black History is given equal attention and distribution in public
school textbooks and education is continual throughout the learning
process, not a one month focus during a calendar year. <br>
<br>
Thanks for reading.<br>
Marilynn, Brenton, Levenia, NAACP-Psycho Club <br>
</body>
</html>