Black History Month originated with the organization of Negro
History Week in 1926, by Carter Godwin Woodson (b. New Canton, VA
12/19/1875-4/3/50). The month of February was selected in deference
to Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, both born in that month.
Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
History in 1915 to train black historians and to collect, preserve,
and publish documents on blacks. He also founded The Journal of Negro
History (1916), Associated Publishers (1922), and the Negro History
Bulletin (1937). Born as the son of a slave, he began high school at
the age of 20 and studied at Berea College, the University of
Chicago, the Sorbonne, and Harvard University, where he earned his
Ph.D. in 1912.
THE
MUSEUM OF SLAVERY IN THE ATLANTIC--The Museum of Slavery in
the Atlantic is designed to provide accurate, engaging and
provocative information to the public about the history of slavery
in the Atlantic. Although slavery has profoundly shaped the
history of the Atlantic and the way that humans living around the
Atlantic rim today relate to each other (especially with regard to
racial differences, racial politics), our schools and our
societies have failed us miserably. We know very little about
slavery. Indeed, it is often a taboo subject, one which teachers,
parents and elders avoid. We hope that the Museum will provide a
valuable educational experience and a medium through which we can
collectively explore the multitude of issues which surround the
history of slavery.
Richard
Allen--Richard
Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the
Free African Society.
Harriet
Tubman--When she discovered what it was to be free, she wanted
to help other people to freedom. She knew that her efforts would
require money and therefore she worked part-time jobs until she
had enough money for her first mission. She traveled to Baltimore
and rescued her sister and her two children. She made at least
fifteen trips to the south and lead at least 200 people to
freedom.
Harriet
Tubman--When she discovered what it was to be free, she
wanted to help other people to freedom.
Harriet
Tubman--Harriet was born into a family of 11 children. Her
parents were both slaves She grew up as a cook and a house hold
servant but served as a nurse in the civil war.
Henry
Highland Garnet--Garnet's ideas about black liberation came to
a national audience. He was convinced that in spite of the
admirable efforts of the white abolitionists, that the battle for
black liberation belonged in the hands of blacks. Garnet would say
that, "They are our allies--Ours is the battle." He took
revolutionary stands about slavery.
Nat
Turner--Nat Turner was a visionary religious leader and the
architect of the August 1831 Southampton Virginia slave
revolt.
Frederick
Douglass--Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass lived to
become one of the most influential figures in African-American
history
Alexander
Crummell--Until recently, Alexander Crummell was not often
discussed in black history, yet his influence on black people
during his time has been survived to this day. He was a scholar,
college professor, preacher, advocate for the emigration of Blacks
to Africa, and advocate of African self help.
John
Mercer Langston--John Mercer Langston was the first Black
American elected to public office in the United States and was
twice suggested as a candidate for vice-president of the United
States on the republican ticket.
Mary
Ann Shadd--Mary Ann Shadd was the first black women editor of
a newspaper in North America. She worked for racial integration in
the United States.
Mary
Elizabeth Bowser--Mary Elizabeth Bowser was a black women that
served as a spy for the Union Army during the civil war.
Mary
Elizabeth Bowser --But Mary Elizabeth Bowser, a freed slave
who was placed as a servant in the Confederate White House in
Richmond, was as cunning as a fox.
Sojurner
Truth--It is rarely discussed, but Sojurner Truth fought for
the desegregation of public transportation in Washington, DC
during the Civil War. She refused to face the indignities of Jim
Crow segregation on street cars and had the Jim Crow car removed
from the Washington, DC system. Sojurner Truth brought a local
street to a standstill when a driver refused her passage. With the
support of the crowd, she forced the driver to carry her. During
her legendary life, she challenged injustice wherever she saw it.
She was an abolitionist, women's rights activist, and
preacher.
Freedom's
Road is Long and Hard--Many of us have read the recounted
stories of a railroad whose tracks ran the length of the East
coast before Amtrak and made local stops from the banks of
Africa's shores to the shores of the Carolinas and to Georgia's
hills--then across the border into Canada. The tracks were built
on faith and conviction.
The North Star: Tracing the
Underground Railroad--In the years before the Civil War, a
secret network of people and places, known as the Underground
Railroad, helped many slaves escape to freedom. This site serves
as a historical resource on the Underground Railroad.
Influence
of Prominent Abolitionists--The abolitionist movement took
shape in 1833, when William Lloyd Garrison, Arthur and Lewis
Tappan, and others formed the American Anti-Slavery Society
inPhiladelphia.
George
Washington Carver--Agricultural chemist George Washington
Carver developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in
soil and discovered hundreds of new uses for crops such as the
peanut, which created new markets for farmers, especially in the
South.
Henry
McNeal Turner--Henry McNeal Turner is remembered mostly as one
of the first Bishops in the African American Episcopal Church, yet
his occupations were many. He was an army chaplain,political
organizer, magazine editor, college chancellor, and preacher. From
his youth Turner was active in Georgia politics. During
Reconstruction he worked with Georgia politicians with hopes to
make life for 19th century Georgia a better place for blacks.
Mary
Church Terrell--During her life, Mary Church Terrell worked as
writer, lecturer, and educator. She is remembered best for her
contribution to the struggle for the rights of women of African
decent.
54th.
Mass. Volunteer Infantry, Co. I--History and reenactment unit
information of the Afro-American union soldiers of the Civil War
period (1863-1865) who fought in South Carolina.
History of
African-Americans in the Civil War--"Once let the black man
get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle
on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his
pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has
earned the right to citizenship in the United States."--Frederick
Douglass
Freedmen's Bureau--
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, often
referred to as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in the War
Department by an act of March 3, 1865. The Bureau supervised all
relief and educational activities relating to refugees and
freedmen, including issuing rations, clothing and medicine. The
Bureau also assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in
the former Confederate States, border states, District of
Columbia, and Indian Territory.
The
Awakening of the Negro, by Booker T. Washington--The seven
millions of colored people of the South cannot be reached directly
by any missionary agency, but they can be reached by sending out
among the strong selected young men and women, with the proper
training of head, hand, and heart, who will live among these
masses and show them how to lift themselves up.
A
Negro Schoolmaster in the New South, by W. E. B. Du Bois--I
secured the school. I remember the day I rode horseback out to the
commissioner's house, with a pleasant young white fellow, who
wanted the white school. The road ran down the bed of a stream;
the sun laughed and the water jingled, and we rode on. "Come in,"
said the commissioner,--"come in. Have a seat. Yes,that
certificate will do. Stay to dinner. What do you want a month?"
Oh, thought I, this is lucky; but even then fell the awful shadow
of the Veil, for they ate first, then I--alone.
The Springfield Race
Riot of 1908--Springfield's two prominent claims, one positive
and one negative, to national recognition are the home of Abraham
Lincoln and the infamous 1908 race riot.
Martin
Luther King, Jr.- Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at noon
Tuesday, January 15, 1929, at the family home, 501 Auburn Avenue,
N.E., Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Charles Johnson was the attending
physician. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the first son and second
child born to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta
Williams King.
366th
Infantry Regiment--The 366th Infantry Regiment was an
all-black unit that saw action in North Africa and Italy during
World War II.
The Tuskegee
Airman--The Tuskegee Airman were the first Black fighter
pilots. During World War II, these Black fighter pilots fought in
aerial combat over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe.
A Tribute
To Jackie Robinson--April 15th, 1947-April 15th, 1997. In
1947, a black man walked out to first base to play baseball and
America was never the same.
Rosa Parks, The
Woman Who Changed a Nation--Rosa Parks was physically tired,
but no more than you or I after a long day's work. In fact, under
other circumstances, she would have probably given up her seat
willingly to a child or elderly person. But this time Parks was
tired of the treatment she and other African Americans received
every day of their lives, what with the racism, segregation, and
Jim Crow laws of the time.
I have a
Dream, by Martin Luther King, Jr.--I have a dream that my four
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character.
Timeline of the
American Civil Rights Movement--This is a very informative
site that covers the time period from 1954-1965, and the intense
struggles that took place during the early years of the Civil
Rights Movement.
VOICES
OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA--On the surface, the 1960's opened
with a sense of hope and expectation best exemplified in JFK's
Inaugural Address. While this was soon to be shattered for
everyone by the Kennedy killing and the continuing war, most of
America's blacks were alienated even before these events.
Thurgood
Marshall (1908 - 1993)--Thurgood Marshall is one of the most
well-known figures in the history of civil rights in America and
the first Black Supreme Court Justice.
The
Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences.--Profiled
here are African American men and women who have contributed to
the advancement of science and engineering. The accomplishments of
the past and present can serve as pathfinders to present and
future engineers and scientists. African American chemists,
biologists, inventors, engineers, and mathematicians have
contributed in both large and small ways that can be overlooked
when chronicling the history of science. By describing the
scientific history of selected African American men and women, we
can see how the efforts of individuals have advanced human
understanding in the world around us.
The
African-American Mosaic--This exhibit marks the publication of
The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide
for the Study of Black History and Culture. A noteworthy and
singular publication, the Mosaic is the first Library-wide
resource guide to the institution's African-American collections.
Covering the nearly 500 years of the black experience in the
Western hemisphere, the Mosaic surveys the full range size, and
variety of the Library's collections, including books,
periodicals, prints, photographs, music, film, and recorded
sound.
Johnkankus: Roots
of an Afro-American Christmas--The Johnkankus is an one of the
first African American traditions. A tradition that has lasted in
various locations for two hundred and seventy-six years. An
explanation of Johnkankus, reference materials, and a classroom
lesson plan are all available from this web site.
National
Civil Rights Museum - Virtual Tour--This tour is made up of
exhibits arranged in chronological order. Each exhibit allows you
to view a glimpse of a key historical event.
Stamp on
Black History--Throughout the years, the United States Postal
Service has tried to preserve America's rich history and culture
through its commemorative stamp program. The Postal Service has
issued Black History-related stamps to commemorate black men and
women who have contributed to America's history and who have made
a difference.
