Black History Month began in 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History proclaimed the second week of February to be a time when the history of American Black people would be taught in public schools.
The movement to recognize and celebrate the role African Americans have played in U.S. history gained momentum, and by 1976, the annual event became Black History Month. Then-President Gerald Ford proclaimed the country should "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
Join with Guideposts as we celebrate the invaluable contributions of Black Americans in a wide range of fields of endeavor, including science, literature, social work, politics and sports.
Enjoy Guideposts new fiction series, Secrets of Wayfarers Inn
—Ida B. Wells, journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist
—James Baldwin, author
—Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy
—George Washington Carver, botanist and inventor
—Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women's rights activist
—W.E.B. Du Bois, historian, activist, author and editor
—Zora Neale Hurston, author
—Muhammad Ali, champion boxer
—Toni Morrison, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author
—Arthur Ashe, champion tennis player and activist
Read more: Inspiring Quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Click on a picture to enjoy more inspiring photos and stories.
Click on a picture to enjoy more inspiring photos and stories.
Click on a picture to enjoy more inspiring photos and stories.