HRMA of West Central MO; Celebrating Black History Month

About Black History Month

The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures.​

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story.