(NewsNation) — The origin of Black History Month in America goes back more than 100 years.
Some may wonder why February, the shortest month of the year, was chosen to be the month to celebrate Black history.
Here is the origin of Black History Month and how it is celebrated each year.
Who started Black History Month?
According to the Library of Congress, the start of Black History Month dates back to 1915, when author and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). It was through this organization that Woodson initiated the first “Negro History Week” in 1926.
Woodson chose a week in February since it coincided with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two key figures in Black American history.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford issued a message recognizing the week and urged all Americans to “recognize the important contribution made to our nation’s life and culture by black citizens.”
The following year in 1976, ASALH extended the commemoration from a weeklong observation to an entire month.
In 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which designated February 1986 as “National Black (Afro-American) History Month.” The law recognized Feb. 1 of that year as the start of the 60th annual public and private salute to Black history.
How is it celebrated?
Each year, the ASALH chooses a theme for Black History Month, which is a practice Woodson started. This year’s theme is “African Americans and Labor.”
According to the organization, the theme focuses on the types of labor African Americans have provided throughout the country’s history, which includes “free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary.”
The theme aims to inspire reflections on the connections between the work of Black individuals and their various workplaces, highlighting significant moments, themes and events in Black history and culture across time and geography.
Since 1996, presidents have issued annual proclamations for National Black History Month, and in February of 1996, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 229, commemorating the month and the contributions of Black senators.