The foundations of Black History Month

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Did you know that Black History Month was once Negro History Week?& The first Negro History Week was established on Feb. 7, 1926, by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the second African American to get a Ph.D. in history after Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois earned his in 1895. Woodson said that most history books “overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed the accomplishments of Black people.” Woodson was both a visionary and an unusual academic, having worked on farms and in mines before beginning high school at age 20. He founded the Association on the Study of African American Life and Culture in 1915. Woodson picked the second week of February for Negro History Week because it included both President Abraham Lincoln’s Feb. 12 birthday and abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ chosen Feb. 14 birthday. (Douglas did not know when his actual birthday was because his birth was recorded in a property ledger indicating only that he was born in February. His birth was recorded in an inventory of horses, cattle and plowing tools. Because enslaved people were not regarded as human, the date of their birth was of less consequence than their worth). Related Stories During the 1960s, Negro History Week evolved...