Danny Davis: “Mr. Speaker, every February Americans celebrate African American Black History Month. This tribute dates back to 1926…”

“Mr. Speaker, every February Americans celebrate African American Black History Month. This tribute dates back to 1926, and it is credited to a Harvard scholar, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson, the son of former slaves, dedicated his life to ensuring that black history was accurately documented and disseminated. In an effort to bring national attention to the contributions of African Americans, Dr. Woodson organized the first annual Negro History Week in 1926. He selected the second week of February, during which Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had celebrated their birthdays. Later, Woodson's contributions helped emerge during the civil rights campaign of the 1950s and 1960s, where the black studies movement began to spawn African American history, theory courses, programs and departments on the Nation's college and university campuses. During the early 1970s, Negro History Week was renamed Black History Week; and in 1976, it officially became Black History Month, designating all of February for the recognition of African American history.”