Black History Month (BHM) is an annual celebration of the important role that African Americans that contributed to this country. BHM has origins in 1915, approximately half a century after the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. That year, Carter G. Woodson, an African American Harvard graduate, founded an association that was dedicated to researching and promoting the achievements of African Americans. The group went on to sponsor a national “Negro History Week” in 1926, choosing the second week of February, which purposely coincided with the birthdays of Former President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Former President Gerald Ford officially recognized BHM in 1976. Since 1976, every American president has designated February as BHM. The 2018 Black History Month theme is “African Americans in Times of War,” which marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and honors the roles that African Americans have played in warfare, from the American Revolution to the present day.
-The Aiken Foundation