Compiled by Mrs. Inger Hill

This month is dedicated to admiring and remembering
the many contributions that African-Americans have
made to society.

Black History celebrations started in 1926 as “Negro
History Week.”

We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and
more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr.
Carter G. Woodson.
Information courtesy of
www.factmonster.com
Carter G. Woodson
February 23, 1868:
W. E. B. DuBois, important civil rights leader and
co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
February 3, 1870:
The 15th Amendment was passed, granting
blacks the right to vote.
W.E.B. Dubois
February 25, 1870:
The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R.
Revels (1822-1901), took his oath of office.
Information courtesy of
www.factmonster.com
Hiram R. Revels

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 1, 1960:
In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone,
a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began
a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter.
Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair (later known as
Jibreel Khazan), and David Richmond.
Information courtesy of
www.factmonster.com
•Before desegregation, there were many public places, such as
restaurants, stores, gas stations, and hotels, that would not
allow African-Americans to enter.
•This made it nearly impossible for African Americans to travel.
If Blacks were going to take a long trip, they had to pack food
for the journey, use the restroom in the woods, and sleep in
their car overnight.
•The Negro Travelers’ Green Book was a travel guide series
published from 1936 to 1964 by Victor H. Green. It was intended
to provide African American motorists and tourists with the
information necessary to board, dine, and sightsee comfortably
and safely during the era of segregation.
•Green and a few others added information as they traveled
Therefore the “Green Book” was updated often.
Information courtesy of:
http://library.sc.edu/digital/collections/greenbook.html

Aaron, Hank (Henry Louis Aaron), 1934–, is an African-American baseball player. In
1974 "Hammerin' Hank" broke Babe Ruth's legendary lifetime mark of 714 home runs,
eventually setting a record of 755 homers, which held until Barry Bonds hit his 756th
in 2007. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Ruby Bridges was born on Sept. 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. Ruby Bridges made
history when she walked through the crowd of militant segregationists and angry
protesters and through the doors of William Frantz public school as the first and
only black student. Only one teacher, Mrs. Henry, was willing to teach a black
student. Showing a steadfast and courageous spirit beyond her years, Ruby Nell
never missed a day of school and showed the world she was a class apart.

Van Der Zee, James, 1886–1983, American photographer, b. Lenox, Mass. The son of
Ulysses S. Grant's maid and butler, Van Der Zee opened his first studio in Harlem,
New York City, in 1915. For 60 years, working in obscurity, he made a visual record
of Harlem life unsurpassed in scope and detail. In 1967 the Metropolitan Museum of
Art discovered Van Der Zee's remaining 40,000 prints and negatives and displayed
many of them in its "Harlem on My Mind" exhibit (1969).
Information courtesy of
www.factmonster.com

Bessie Coleman was an early aviation pioneer as both an AfricanAmerican and a woman. No one in American would teach her how to fly,
she moved to Paris and was accepted to aviation school. On 15 June
1921 she received her pilot's license from the Federation Aeronautique
Internationale. The certificate made her the world's first licensed black
aviator.
•Astronaut Guion Bluford became the first African-American in
space when he flew on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.
Bluford was a former Air Force fighter pilot who flew 144 combat
missions in the Vietnam War in 1966-67. After his wartime
service he received an master's degree (1974) and a PhD (1978)
from the Air Force Institute of Technology before joining the
NASA astronaut corps in 1979.
Information courtesy of
www.factmonster.com
 Blood
bank
 Gas mask
 Mailbox
 Potato chips
 The stop light
 Shoe making machine
 There
are so many more things to learn,
understand, and appreciate about African
American History.
 Visit the following websites to learn more
about African American culture and history:
http://www.besthistorysites.net/index.php/americanhistory/african-american
 http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/research-guides-websites


 www.google.com
(images)
 www.factmonster.com
 Information courtesy of:
http://library.sc.edu/digital/collections/gre
enbook.html