While many see February as the month of love, others view it as a time to celebrate the achievements and roles of significant people who fought against the unequal treatment of African Americans. Black History Month is an annual occurrence to pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who’ve overcome adversity to gain their rights as American citizens. 

Black History Month dates its roots back to 1915, nearly half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the U.S. That September, two men, Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, an organization dedicated to researching and promoting the achievements by African Americans and those of African descent. The group sponsored a national recognition week for Black Americans, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. 

Over the next few decades, city mayors began recognizing Black History Week. Thanks to a growing Civil Rights Movement, Black History Week evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses. In 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first president to officially recognize the month, calling the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Since 1976, every U.S. president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme. This year’s theme is “African Americans and the Vote”. According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the theme speaks “to the ongoing struggle on the part of both Black men and Black women for the right to vote.” 

The theme honors the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The women’s rights movement grew out of the years-long abolitionist movement, where activists such as Frederick Douglass worked alongside women’s rights supporters, like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to secure the right to vote for all. That goal was reached in 1920, with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment. 

This year’s theme also comes 150 years after the Fifteenth Amendment was passed in 1870, giving Black men the right to vote. In the Radical Reconstruction Period after the Civil War, newly freed Black men made many political achievements, gaining office in Southern state legislatures and even Congress. The Southern backlash was swift; a series of “black codes” were passed to intimidate Black voters, calling for formal legislation on the right to vote.

While Black History Month is synonymous with prominent figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, there are countless more African Americans who’ve made a profound impact on history. For example, Madam C.J. Walker became one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire by creating specialized hair products for African American hair care. Daniel Hale Williams was one of the first physicians to perform open-heart surgery in the U.S. and founded the first medical facility to have an interracial staff. Mae C. Jemison is the first African American female astronaut; in 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour.

This month is a time to pay tributes to the African American men and women who’ve made significant contributions to the world in the fields of science, entertainment, and arts.

Graphic courtesy of WCIV.COM