Goddard To Join National Observance Of African-American History

The Goddard community will have the opportunity to join our Nation in February for a month of activities in observance of black achievement that has contributed to making America great. "The Souls of Black Folk: Centennial Reflections," is the theme for this year's African-American History Month.

This theme recognizes the centennial of what many have said is the most important work of the 20th century, "The Soul of Black Folk," by scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois.

	Leonard Brown, African-American Programs Manager for Goddard. Photo by Chris Gunn/293

Leonard Brown, African-American Programs Manager for Goddard said that the annual observance is an opportunity for open discussion and dialogue about American history. "It requires us to admit the need for reconciling and acknowledging the omitted history we have all been subjected to," Brown said. "I hope by soliciting, delivering and sponsoring a solidly educational and historically accurate African-American History Month of programs at Goddard, we can grow and learn from one another."

Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson is considered by many as the founder of the annual observance of African-American contributions. In 1915 Woodson founded The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Later he was able to establish Negro History Week as a way to bring national attention to the accomplishments of African Americans.

Black History Month 2003 - The Souls of Black Folk historical poster.

His hope was to neutralize the apparent distortions in Black history and to provide a more objective and scholarly balance to American and World history.

In 1926 Dr. Woodson's dream became a reality. He chose the second week in February for the observance because of its proximity to the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass; two individuals whom Dr. Woodson felt had dramatically affected the lives of African Americans. In 1976, the Association succeeded in expanding the observance, which then became Black History Month.

President Bush wrote of last year's observance, "This annual event gives all Americans a chance to recognize and commemorate the global history of people of African descent recognizing the many contributions made by African Americans to our economic, cultural, spiritual, and political development. "Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books," the President wrote.

Other significant events in Black History have occurred in the month of February:

February 1, 1960: A group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter: a civil-rights movement milestone.
February 3, 1870: The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the right to vote.
February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and white citizens in New York City.
February 21, 1965: Three Black Muslims shot Malcolm X to death.
February 23. 1868: W.E.B. DuBois co-founder of the NAACP was born.
February 25, 1870: The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels took his oat of office.

Click here for Black History Month Events at Goddard