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From the Collector |
“Negro History Month” |
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It is important that students understand that of all the people who make up the great “mixed salad” of this nation, the African-Americans were the only group to arrive here in chains. This factor alone makes the African-American culture unique. Not only did they come involuntarily, but they were denied opportunities to learn the new language and customs. To further their isolation, they were denied the right to speak their native language and to practice their native customs and traditions. The denial of practicing the customs and speaking the native language was just the opposite for other immigrants. Other immigrants came here voluntarily in hope of finding a better life and were not forced to abandon their customs. This profusion of differences among immigrants created a singularity or bond that contributed to making this nation great. It was different for African-American because they were totally disenfranchised, stripped of freedom, rights and dignity. |
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African American History Education and Culture |
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Fall 2007 |
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Volume 1, Issue 1 |
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Culture Keepers Home |
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Carter G. Woodson |
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In 1926 Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Month |
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week. The goal was to "popularize the truth...[we] are not interested so much in Negro History as in history influenced by the Negro." Dr. Woodson, considered by many to be the "Father of Black History," chose the second week in February because of the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln. The celebration of Negro History Week continued; however, in the early 1960s the word "Negro" was replaced with "black" and "African American." The week of celebration was then call "Black History Week." In 1976 America celebrated its Bicentennial, at this time, Black History Week became the celebration that we know as "Black History Month." Black History Month is mostly due to an outstanding individual of American history: Carter G. Woodson. Born in 1875 in Virginia, he was the son of former slaves. The eldest of nine children, he began working at an early age to help his family. Guided by a constant thirst for knowledge, he kept up his self-taught education until he was able to enter high school at twenty. He went on to Berea College in Kentucky, then to the University of Chicago and finally earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912. |