Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month and was formerly known as Negro History Month before 1976. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora, initially lasting a week before becoming a month-long observation since 1970. It is celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, where it has received official recognition from governments, but more recently has also been celebrated in Ireland and the United Kingdom where it is observed in October.
The Black United Students first Black culture center, Kuumba House in Kent State, where many events of the first Black History Month celebration took place
1822 handbill advertising a Black boxing tutor in Alnwick, Northumberland; tweeted by Northumberland Archives as part of Black History Month in 2020
Carter Godwin Woodson was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African diaspora, including African-American history. A founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1916, Woodson has been called the "father of black history." In February 1926, he launched the celebration of "Negro History Week," the precursor of Black History Month. Woodson was an important figure to the movement of Afrocentrism, due to his perspective of placing people of African descent at the center of the study of history and the human experience.
Carter G. Woodson
Portrait of Woodson from West Virginia Collegiate Institute's El Ojo yearbook picture (1923)
A statue of Woodson at Carter G Woodson Memorial Park in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. sculpted by Ray Kaskey.
Carter Woodson biographical cartoon by Charles Alston, 1943