
As published in the Chicago Daily News, sister publication of the Chicago Sun-Times:
In 1926, historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson established the first Negro History Week, a time to celebrate Black history and recognize it as a serious area of study. He chose the second week in February because the birthdays of the “Great Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14) usually fell on the same week. The tradition would eventually evolve into the Black History Month recognized today.