Celebrating Black History Month

Black History Month which starts on February 1st and goes through March 1st was started by Harvard-educated historian Carter G. Woodson and Jesse Moorland. They founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) an organization dedicated to researching and promoting African-American Achievements by Black Americans of African descent. The date was to coincide with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday who wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves primarily in the United States from the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Frederick Douglass was a social reformer, abolitionist and newspaper publisher, two prominent men whose historic achievements African Americans already celebrated. (Lincoln’s birthday was February 12; Douglass, a former slave, hadn’t known his actual birthday but had marked the occasion on February 14.)

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper’s online edition.