8 Things You Didn’t Know About Black History
Many of us grew up learning the highlights of Black history each February, yet there’s more to know about the contributions of Black Americans than could ever be covered in a month. Read on to add just a little more to your understanding of Black history with these lesser-known facts.
Black History Month’s origins go back to 1926 when historian and Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) founder Dr. Carter G. Woodson created “Negro History Week”. This popular movement was never meant to only last a week, but continue the study of Black history throughout the year.
Dr. Woodson initially chose the second week of February for “Negro History Week” due to it containing the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two icons of freedom in the United States.
In 1975, President Ford announced a “Message on the Observance of Black History Week”, which the ASALH expanded to a month the next year. Congress officially designated February as National Black History Month in 1986.
Hired by George Washington himself (after coming highly recommended by Thomas Jefferson), Benjamin Banneker was the Black architect who helped plan the layout for Washington, DC. The original designer walked off the job taking all the plans with him, but Banneker was able to reproduce the entire map from memory in just two days, saving the project.
The first Black self-made millionaire was Madam C.J. Walker. Self-motivated and a natural entrepreneur, Walker invented a line of popular hair products for Black women that would be her escape from poverty and domestic servitude. She later founded Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company and was as famous for her philanthropy as she was her wealth.
Like the famous Rosa Parks story, Claudette Colvin was a brave woman arrested nine months before Parks for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger.
The first Black Supreme Court Justice was Thurgood Marshall, who served from 1967 to 1991. He was also famous for arguing the Brown v. Board of Education case before the Court in 1954, which integrated public schools.
George Washington Carver might be known for inventing peanut butter, but that’s a vast oversimplification of his many accomplishments. Carver created over 300 other products derived from peanuts, including ink, dyes, linoleum, cosmetics, wood stains, soup, plastics, and more.
Sources: https://asalh.org/about-us/about-black-history-month/#:~:text=The%20first%20official%20observance%20came,homage%20to%20Woodson%20and%20ASALH.https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a35181062/black-history-facts/
https://guides.loc.gov/black-history-month-legal-resources/history-and-overview
https://www.blackhistory.com/2018/06/meet-black-architect-who-helped-design-washington-dc.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_C._J._Walker
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-facts
