[Opinion] Carter G. Woodson began the first National Negro History Week

Carter G. Woodson began the first National Negro History Week

Black History Month was initiated by historian and journalist Carter G. Woodson in 1926 to preserve and educate the public on Black history, and has been celebrated every February since 1976, with the St. Louis region being one of the first cities to officially raise the Pan-African flag at City Hall as part of its local observances.

The History of 'Black History Month'; NYC's Best Pancakes; Sundance's Last Dance In Park City; The Intersecting Histories Of Black & Jewish Americans

Loading... This Black History Month is of particularly historical importance, as 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the Month's founding by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead is the current president of ASALH, as well as a professor and the founding executive director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University Maryland. Dr. Kaye discus…

One man's opinion: Celebrating a Century of Black American History

Noted Black scholar and historian Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History, was born in 1875 to former slaves. He worked on the family farm in West Virginia as well as in the coal mines nearby. He was largely self-taught in most school subjects, and entered high school at the age of 20, graduating in only two years. Woodson would work as a teacher and school principal in segregated schools before obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree fr…