In the early 20th Century, Harvard-educated Black historian Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Negro History, pioneered the field of African American studies. He was inspired by a three-week national celebration of the 50th anniversary of African American emancipation in 1915. Woodson and four other individuals (Alexander L. Jackson, William B. Hartgrove, George Cleveland Hall and James E. Stamps), founded it as the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) on September 9, 1915 in Chicago, Illinois.
The name was later changed in 1972 to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The Association’s mission statement describes its purpose as “to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community.”
Woodson’s vision was widely accepted in 1924 when his college introduced Negro History and Literature Week. Two years later, in February of 1926, Woodson and the ASNLH started Negro History Week. ASNLH had annual meetings which were driven by Woodson’s personal history as a son of ex-slaves, a child laborer in West Virginia coal mines, a secondary school teacher in the District of Columbia, and the second African American to attain a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1912).
African American Heritage Month is celebrated in February because it is also the birth month of two notable figures who have made a significant impression on African American history - Abraham Lincoln (born February 12) and Frederick Douglass (born February 14) - both of whom contributed to the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Since the deaths of Lincoln and Douglas, the African American community had celebrated their contributions to African American liberation and civil rights on their birthdays. By observing Negro History Week in February, Woodson also honored the legacy of Lincoln and Douglass and sought to extend the celebrations of the achievements of African Americans through the entire month of February.
African American Heritage Month is also celebrated as a means to reflect on more than 400 years of African American history and heritage that have shaped the American culture. Celebrations are held across national parks, schools, and communities around the United States and beyond.
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