Black History
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History
Week" and later as "Black History Month.
" What you might not know is that black history
had barely begun to be studied-or even documented-when the tradition...
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Black History
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History
Week" and later as "Black History Month.
" What you might not know is that black history
had barely begun to be studied-or even documented-when the tradition originated.
Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not
until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books.
Blacks Absent from History Books
We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black
history, to Dr.
Carter G.
Woodson.
Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his
childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty.
He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.
D.
from Harvard.
The
scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black
American population-and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generall
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