JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We celebrate Black History Month to honor the contributions and achievements of African Americans who have helped shaped this country.
QUESTION: Was February chosen as Black History month because it’s the shortest month?
ANSWER: No. The black scholar and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson chose the month of February as a time to honor Black History because it’s the month that two men who played an important role in shaping black history celebrate their birthdays.
Both president Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass are known for their efforts to end slavery.
Sources: My sources are a St. Augustine historian, David Nolan, The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the NAACP.
Let me tell you about some who some call the, “Father of Black History."
Woodson grew up in Virginia where his parents were former slaves.
According to the NAACP, he was hungry for education getting his PhD at Harvard University and later becoming a faculty member at Howard University.
The NAACP says Woodson was prohibited from attending an American Historical Association conference despite paying his dues as a member.
Over time Woodson realized that African American contributions were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the authors of history textbooks and the teachers who used them.
In 1915, he formed the association for the ‘study of negro life and history’ and a year later he began an influential publication called the Journey of Negro History.
Which is published to this day under the name Journal of African American History.
For the U.S. bicentennial celebration in 1976 Woodson’s concept was later expanded to black history month.
“We really need to have black history month be all year long and until we get to that point it's great to have something that focuses attention because this is a part of history that even more than a century after Dr. Woodson began his efforts it's not known enough and it’s so important for us to know," said David Nolan.
Woodson’s legacy lives on every February and without him black history month would have never existed.