Black history month started as Negro History Week on February 7th, 1926, which Carter G. Woodson initiated. He chose the month of February because it was the birth month of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, who both contributed drastically to African Americans' freedom in the United States (Zinn Education Project, 2022). However, the overall purpose of the week was to educate and celebrate the Negro as a race. Especially black children in public schools. The first-ever month-long celebration of Black History was at Kent State University in February 1970 ( Kent State University, 2022). It continued to spread worldwide, and by 1976 President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized it as Black History Month nationally.
References:
Zinn Education Project. (2022). February 7th, 1926: Carter G. Woodson Launched Negro History Week. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/carter-woodson-black-history-month/
Kent State University . (2022). DID YOU KNOW?. https://www.kent.edu/cas/did-you-know#:~:text=The%20first%20ever%20month%2Dlong,which%20was%20established%20in%201976.
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