Editor’s Note: I don’t want to let more of the month slip by without bringing attention to the Black History Month exhibits and documents at the Western Reserve Historical Society. It’s a terrific resource for all things related to our region’s history, both through its museums and handy online resources.
Black History Month started as a one-week event before expanding to a month-long observation in 1970, and Northeast Ohio played a role in that expansion. I’ll rely on the historians at WRHS to take it from here:
In 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week.” This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12 and that of Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14, both of which Black communities had celebrated since the late 19th Century.
In February 1969, Black educators and Black United Students at Kent State University proposed Black History Month. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State a year later, from Jan. 2 to Feb. 28, 1970. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated across the United States in educational institutions, centers of Black culture, and community centers.
President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month in 1976, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. He urged Americans to “Seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Go to the WRHS website for a full list of events and other interesting stories about the region’s history.
Photo of Call & Post Newsboys c.1934 by Allen E. Cole, courtesy of the WRHS Archives
