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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Eves, and welcome to this Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history

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Speaker 1: every day. Today is February seventh, nineteen. The day was

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Speaker 1: February seven, nineteen. Historian Dr Carter G. Woodson, now affectionately

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Speaker 1: known as the Father of Black History Month, launched a

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Speaker 1: Negro History Week in partnership with the Association for the

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Speaker 1: Study of Negro Life and History. Woodson's insistence on bringing

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Speaker 1: black history into the spotlight challenge popular notions about black

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Speaker 1: people's role in American history helped preserve black history and

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Speaker 1: culture and encourage black people to draw inspiration from the past.

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Speaker 1: Woodson got a master's degree from the University of Chicago

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Speaker 1: and a doctorate from Harvard in history, becoming the second

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Speaker 1: African American to get a pH d in history from

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Speaker 1: the university. Woodson published his first book, The Education of

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Speaker 1: the Negro Prior to eighteen sixty one, in nineteen fifteen,

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Speaker 1: and he co founded the Association for the Study of

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Speaker 1: Negro Life and History that same year. The next year,

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Speaker 1: the organization began publishing the Journal of Negro History, now

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Speaker 1: called the Journal of African American History. Woodson noticed how

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Speaker 1: often Black people were left out of conversations about American history,

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Speaker 1: and when black folks were depicted, they were often portrayed

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Speaker 1: as racist misrepresentations and stereotypes, like in the nineteen fifteen

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Speaker 1: film The Birth of a Nation. Woodson had been studying

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Speaker 1: Black history for years, and he recognized the need for

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Speaker 1: more historically accurate and less biased accounts of Black historical

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Speaker 1: events and figures. His philosophy was that history is more

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Speaker 1: than just facts about the past. History should be balanced

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Speaker 1: and acknowledge the true role of Black people in it

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Speaker 1: without distorting facts. What sends. Mission to educate people on

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Speaker 1: the actual contributions of African Americans and history and improve

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Speaker 1: relations between black and white people would drive his work

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Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. Woodson once said, if

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Speaker 1: a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition,

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Speaker 1: It becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world,

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Speaker 1: and it stands in danger of being exterminated. What since

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Speaker 1: efforts served to counter all the damage that had been

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Speaker 1: done to people's perception and of Black history and advanced

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Speaker 1: a new understanding of black culture and accomplishments. Wood sent

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Speaker 1: documented oral histories from slaves, collected artifacts, and historical documents

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Speaker 1: of Black history, sponsored research projects, and wrote hundreds of

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Speaker 1: essays and dozens of books on black subjects. For years,

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Speaker 1: the historical profession had excluded black scholars of history and

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Speaker 1: presented historical and accuracies about African Americans, but there was

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Speaker 1: no organization black historians were welcome to join. At the time,

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Speaker 1: White publications often rejected research on black history, and libraries

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Speaker 1: and archives didn't carry primarian materials about African Americans. So

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Speaker 1: Woodson set out to create platforms where black historians could

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Speaker 1: present and publish their research. After the Association for the

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Speaker 1: Study of Negro Life and History and the Journal of

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Speaker 1: neg History were up and running, Woodson founded associated publishers

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Speaker 1: to ensure black scholars would have their work published. These

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Speaker 1: organizations did face financial setbacks, despite the fact that they

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Speaker 1: were able to secure some funding from black scholars and

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Speaker 1: major institutions, but they succeeded in promoting black history and

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Speaker 1: the study of black history, and they increased public awareness

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Speaker 1: of how black history had been ignored and manipulated. And

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Speaker 1: in ninet, Woodson and the Association for the Study of

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Speaker 1: Negro Life and History proposed the observance of a Negro

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Speaker 1: History Week to celebrate the achievements of black people. It

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Speaker 1: would take place in February because that was the month

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Speaker 1: of Abraham Lincoln's birthday and Frederick Douglas's observed birthday, events

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Speaker 1: that were already celebrated in black communities. But Woodson wanted

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Speaker 1: people to celebrate the contributions of all black people, not

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Speaker 1: just two men who people might not even have the

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Speaker 1: most comprehensive knowledge of. The Announcement of Negro History Week

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Speaker 1: brought black history to a wider audience. Schools around the

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Speaker 1: United States began including curriculum to celebrate Negro History Week,

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Speaker 1: and Black history clubs began forming. So the association began

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Speaker 1: providing study materials to educators, and it formed branches across

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Speaker 1: the country, and in nineteen thirty seven, the Association for

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Speaker 1: the Study of Negro Life and History began publishing the

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Speaker 1: Negro History Bulletin, now called the Black History Bulletin. Its

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Speaker 1: goal is to provide educators with peer reviewed information about

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Speaker 1: the history of Africans and people of the African diaspora.

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Speaker 1: Woodson's hope, though, was that celebrations of Black history would

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Speaker 1: extend beyond one week. He believed black history should be

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Speaker 1: acknowledged year round, and he imagined a day when the

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Speaker 1: week long commemoration would no longer be necessary. As early

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Speaker 1: as the nineteen forties, people began celebrating Black History throughout

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Speaker 1: the month of February, and in nineteen seventy six, the

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Speaker 1: Association for the Study of African American Life and History,

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Speaker 1: which had recently changed its name to exclude the word Negro,

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Speaker 1: declared February Black History Month. US President Gerald Ford proclaimed

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Speaker 1: Black History Month a national observance. Debate continues over the

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Speaker 1: necessity of Black History Month. Some claim the celebration of

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Speaker 1: Black History shouldn't be confined to a single month, while

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Speaker 1: others claim the commemoration is racist. But today Black History

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Speaker 1: Month is celebrated in the U S, Canada, the UK,

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Speaker 1: and other places around the world. I'm Eve step Coote

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Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today

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Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. You can subscribe to This Day

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Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you tomorrow.