Black History Month Founded by historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week” in February 1926 as a way to chronicle the accomplishments of African Americans in the aftermath of slavery continues today. The month long commemoration has not been canceled and President “Trump Acknowledges Black History Month–After Weeks of Attacking Diversity.”
Black History Month commemorations brought together scholars and everyday citizens looking to rebuild their lives, support one another, and discuss progress since the end of the Civil War (1865), the end of Reconstruction (1877), and the turn of a new century.
Woodson, known as the Father of Black History, is the son of formerly enslaved parents who received his bachelor’s degree in literature from Berea College, a master’s degree in European history from the University of Chicago, and was the second African American after W.E.B. Du Bois to receive a PhD in History from Harvard University. Disseminating African American history was not new to him as he had been participating in national conventions of formerly enslaved people since 1915. That year, in Chicago, African Americans throughout the United States gathered to celebrate their progress since emancipation. Shortly after, Woodson, A.L. Jackson and others formed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now The Association for the Study of African American Life and History) and The Journal of Negro History (1916, now The Journal of African American History) which are both still active today. It was through this national organization, the journal, and his several books, that Woodson continued writing about and teaching African American history and culture. Woodson was also an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, which also had a role in the origins of Black History Month.
According to fraternity history, Dr. Woodson, an honorary member, along with Garnett C. Wilkinson, and Colonel Charles C. Young, developed a national campaign focusing on Black history. In 1920, Woodson gave an inspiring address “Democracy and the Man Far Down,” at the Ninth National Convention in Nashville, TN. He encouraged the fraternity to devote more time “to the study and dissemination of the facts of Negro life and history” (Deer, 153).
The fraternity embraced Woodson’s charge and created a weeklong program called “The Campaign for the Study of Negro Literature and History,” which was held April 24-30, 1921. Chapters in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia, Washington, DC, Indiana, and New York, to name a few, reported on the success of their programs. For example, Nu Chapter at Pennsylvania State University shared Black history pamphlets with newspapers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and held a meeting on April 27th celebrating achievements in literature, history, and philosophy.
The early years of the program (1921-1924) were foundational to the study of African American history inspired by Dr. Woodson and his fraternity brothers. Omega Psi Phi reported on these activities in their publication the Oracle and created a booklet titled “The Achievement Project” which provided facts about African American achievements in the fields of economics, science, agriculture, medicine, chemistry, literature, and politics. Historical figures including inventor/atlas surveyor Benjamin Banneker, agriculturalist George Washington Carver, and physician Dr. Daniel Hale Williams were included in the publication, along with African Americans working in education, literature, music, and art. African American women such as poet Phillis Wheatley, educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune, suffragist Ida B. Wells, and artist Edmonia Lewis became familiar to those who studied and celebrated African American achievements among men and women. The national programs offered by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity paused in 1925 in deference to the work Dr. Woodson was doing through the ASALH. As he ramped up the campaign to offer a national program beyond the fraternity, he changed the name to Negro History Week and moved the celebration to February. Historian and former ASALH National President Daryl Michael Scott noted that “Woodson never viewed black history as a one-week affair.”
Negro History Week, on a national level was just as popular as it was during the Omega Psi Phi era. The first ten years of celebrations included excellent participation from schools, businesses, libraries and other public spaces. Each year Woodson and his colleagues in the Association established a theme and offered historical material and displays for educators. Woodson’s displays from 1915 continued in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, appearing in libraries, storefronts, and other organizations throughout the 1960s and 70s. In 1976, the celebrations extended from one week to the entire month of February and every sitting president since that date has offered proclamations of support.
Last week, President Trump recognized National Black History Month as all presidents have since the mid-1970s. He called “upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.” ASALH announced the 2025 theme as African Americans and Labor with an emphasis on all kinds of labor including “free and unfree, skilled and unskilled, vocational and voluntary.” Dr. Woodson, the ASALH, and the members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity should be proud of the tradition to recognize African American achievements continue today.