Princeton NJ Black History & Culture Guide Articles
Most recent posting below. See other articles in the "Other Articles" section at the bottom.
How Negro History Week Became Black History Month and Why It Matters Now
Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States for close to 100 years. But what is it, exactly, and how did it begin?
In the years after Reconstruction, campaigning for the importance of Black history and doing the scholarly work of creating the canon was a cornerstone of civil rights work for leaders like Carter G. Woodson. Martha Jones, a professor of history at Johns Hopkins University and the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, explained: “These are men [like Woodson] who were trained formally and credentialed in the ways that all intellectuals and thought leaders of the early 20th century were trained at Harvard and places like that. But in order to make the argument, in order to make the claim about Black genius, about Black excellence, you have to build the space in which to do that. There is no room.” This is how they built the room.
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