History Canada. "History of Black History Month."
For more information about Black History Month, check out these library resources!
Carter G. Woodson
"The idea for an African American History Month was first conceived by the historian Carter G. Woodson and members of his Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Together they organized a Negro History Week, beginning in February 1926. They selected the month of February for this celebration because it was close to the birthdays of Pres. Abraham Lincoln, who had been responsible for the Emancipation Proclamation, and the African American orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Negro History Week was expanded to become African American History Month in 1976, with Pres. Gerald Ford urging Americans to participate in its observance."
image from NPS website & text from Britannica Online
