Black History Month

As long as I can remeber February has been dedicated to remembering significant African Americans in U.S. history, yet, I never really knew why the month of February...
Dr. Carter G. Woodson can be given much of the credit for black history month. After being raised by two former slaves and working in the coalmines himself he set out to achieve an education. He received the four-month term that was customary for black schools at the time. Determined to do better he taught himself further and at 19 entered high school. He went on to receive his Masters degree in history from the University of Chicago, and he eventually earned a PhD from Harvard. Woodson was greatly disturbed at the lack of acknolwedgment for America's black population. He began challenging the writing of Black history. To do this, Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History along with the Journal of Negro History. Through all of his efforts he was able to develop Negro History Week in 1926.Woodson believed that "the achievements of the Negro properly set forth will crown him as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization." Yet, In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. February was chosen for the celebration because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population: Frederick Douglass (February 14), an escaped slave who became one of the foremost black abolitionists and civil rights leaders in the nation, and President Abraham Lincoln (February 12), who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in America's confederate states.

As a future teacher, I believe that this information is important to share with students. It helps them understand more about the struggle to establish acknowedgement and the history behind all these significant people in which they study. I know that I never learned this information growing up and learning through Black History Month each year. However, I do feel it is something that should be known by the children. If you are going to teach something to a child, I think you should teach all there is to know.

Resource:
"Extra!: History of Black History Month." CNN.com. 31 Jan 2007. CNN, Web. 9 Feb 2010. .