The History of 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...
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The History of 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,
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