What is Black History Month and how did it start?

In 1915, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black History, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Dr. Woodson created ASALH because he recognized the enormous amount of information on the achievements black people.  Consequently, Dr. Woodson  instituted Negro History Week as a way to celebrate African American achievements. In 1924, a celebration that eventually got renamed to “Negro Achievement Week” began and the outreach was significant, but the desire for a greater impact also persisted. “We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” By February 1926, this statement of Harvard-trained historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson along with that idea he and other prominent African American figures had would then become “Negro History Week.” Dr. Woodson chose February for reasons of continuing what was already familiar to many. Since 1865, Black communities had celebrated fallen President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and then by the late 1890s former slave and prominent abolitionist activist Frederick Douglass’ birthday, both occurring in February. This showed his true effort to extend the study of black history, not create a new tradition. Finally, in 1976, this celebration was expanded to include the entire month of February, and today Black History Month garners support throughout the country as people of all ethnic and social backgrounds discuss the African American experience