Carter G. Woodson, Harvard graduate, African American historian and founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), encouraged schools and organizations to participate in Negro History Week in February 19261. Woodson and his colleagues chose the month of February to honor the births of abolitionist, Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln2.
In 1976, fifty years after the first celebration, President. Gerald R. Ford issued the first African American History Month Proclamation, urging Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every endeavor throughout our history”3. Today, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), continues their mission to “promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community”4.
To learn more about Carter G. Woodson, African American History Month and ASALH, visit http://www.woodsonmuseum.org/about-us, https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/ and https://asalh.org/
1. 1. https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about/
2. 2. https://www.biography.com/people/carter-g-woodson-9536515
3. 3. https://www.loc.gov/law/help/commemorative-observations/african-american.php
4. 4. https://asalh.org/about-us/