WEBVTT - Why Is Black History Month During February?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>lauring bog obaum here. America has officially celebrated Black History

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<v Speaker 1>Month since February of nineteen seventy six, when President Gerald R.

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<v Speaker 1>Ford established it as a national observance in an address

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<v Speaker 1>that lauded its founder, African American historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson,

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<v Speaker 1>and the quote impressive contributions of Black Americans to our

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<v Speaker 1>national life and culture. But why February wasn't chosen willy nilly?

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<v Speaker 1>Or does February have special significance? We owe the celebration

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<v Speaker 1>of Black History Month to Woodson, who made it his

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<v Speaker 1>life's work to increase public awareness of African American history

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<v Speaker 1>and culture. Known as the Father of Black History, this

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<v Speaker 1>son of former slaves worked his way out of the

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<v Speaker 1>Kentucky coal mines to become a Harvard educated historian and journalist.

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<v Speaker 1>Disheartened to discover that history books excluded the Black experience

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<v Speaker 1>of American life beyond ways that portrayed black people as

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<v Speaker 1>socially inferior, he took on the challenge of writing a proud,

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<v Speaker 1>out and true African American history into America's national consciousness.

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<v Speaker 1>Woodson wrote those who have no record of what their

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<v Speaker 1>forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the

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<v Speaker 1>teaching of biography and history. With that in mind, in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifteen, he founded the Association for the Study of

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<v Speaker 1>Negro Life in History now the Association for the Study

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<v Speaker 1>of African American Life and History and the Seminal Journal

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<v Speaker 1>of Negro History in nineteen sixteen, later renamed the Journal

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<v Speaker 1>of African American History. In February of nineteen twenty six,

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<v Speaker 1>he introduced the celebration of negroh History Week as a

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<v Speaker 1>way to shine a light on the myriad contributions of

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<v Speaker 1>black people throughout American history. Woodson and the Association chose

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<v Speaker 1>the second week in February to launch the celebratory week

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<v Speaker 1>because it coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln, whose

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty three Emancipation Proclamation and its slavery and Frederick Douglas,

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<v Speaker 1>the former slave turned social reformer who became a national

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<v Speaker 1>force in the abolitionist movement. Other February events of historical

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<v Speaker 1>merit included the birth of civil rights icon W. E. B.

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<v Speaker 1>Du Bois and the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment on

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<v Speaker 1>February third, eighteen seventy, which recognized the right of African

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<v Speaker 1>American men to vote. The notion of expanding the week

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<v Speaker 1>to a month evolved over the decades leading up to

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<v Speaker 1>and during the Civil Rights movement of the nineteen sixties.

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<v Speaker 1>Freedom schools in the South incorporated the week into their curricula,

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<v Speaker 1>and by the mid nineteen sixties, many colleges and universities

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<v Speaker 1>across the country began to transform the week long event

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<v Speaker 1>into a month long celebration on their campuses. Leaders of

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<v Speaker 1>the Black United Students Organization at Kent State University proposed

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<v Speaker 1>expanding it to a month, and in nineteen seventy they

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<v Speaker 1>celebrated Black History Month for the first time on their campus.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time President Ford made it a national observance

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy six, many mayors had already endorsed it

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<v Speaker 1>as a municipal celebration. Each iteration of the event since

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<v Speaker 1>its inception in ninety six has had a specific theme,

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<v Speaker 1>as stated by the association, The theme for twenty is

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<v Speaker 1>African Americans and the Vote, marking the one and fiftieth

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<v Speaker 1>Anniverse three of the Fifteenth Amendment and the one anniversary

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<v Speaker 1>of the nineteenth amendment by which women gained the vote

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<v Speaker 1>as well. This year's theme honors the struggles and triumphs

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<v Speaker 1>of black citizens and elected officials in securing access to

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<v Speaker 1>these rights and highlights the importance of the vote in

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<v Speaker 1>this an important election year. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Carrie Tatro and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.