Dates in History

Why is February designated for Black History Month?

Americans have recognized Black History Month annually since 1926, first as “Negro History Week” and then as Black History Month. The driving force behind the implementation of both was Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard graduate who grew up the child of former slaves. As a scholar, he was disturbed that history books largely ignored the African-American population or portrayed them in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time.

Initially, Woodson chose the second week of February to commemorate the birthdays of two men, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, who greatly influenced life for African-Americans in the U.S. However, other events in February make this an important month in African-American history.

• February 23, 1868: W.E.B. DuBois, civil rights leader and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
  
  
• February 3, 1870: The Fifteenth Amendment was passed, granting African-Americans the right to vote.
  
  
• February 25, 1870: Hiram R. Revels, the first black U.S. senator, takes his oath of office.
  
  
• February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in New York City.
  
  
• February 1, 1960: In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of African-American Greensboro, N.C. college students began a sit-in at an all-white restaurant in Woolworths.
  
  
• February 21, 1965: Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black Nationalism was shot to death.