Text from the Library of Congress:
National Black History Month has its origins in 1915 when historian and author Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. This organization is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History External (ASALH). Through this organization, Dr. Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in February 1926. Dr. Woodson selected the week in February that included the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two key figures in the history of Black Americans.
In 1975, President Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Week External urging all Americans to "recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by black citizens." In 1976, ASALH expanded this commemoration of Black history in the United States from a week-long observance to Black History Month, which also has been known as African American History Month. In the same year, President Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Month External. In subsequent years, presidents continued to issue messages External honoring Black History Month.
In 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which designated February 1986 as "National Black (Afro-American) History Month.” This law noted that February 1, 1986, would “mark the beginning of the sixtieth annual public and private salute to Black History.” The law further directed the president to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe February 1986 as Black History Month with the appropriate ceremonies and activities. President Reagan issued Presidential Proclamation 5443 External, which proclaimed that “the foremost purpose of Black History Month is to make all Americans aware of this struggle for freedom and equal opportunity.” This proclamation stated further that this month was a time “to celebrate the many achievements of African Americans in every field from science and the arts to politics and religion."
Since 1996, presidents have issued annual proclamations for National Black History Month. In January 1996, President Clinton issued Presidential Proclamation 6863 External for “National African American History Month." The proclamation emphasized the theme for that year, the achievements of Black women from Sojourner Truth to Mary McLeod Bethune and Toni Morrison. Since 1996, Congress has regularly passed resolutions honoring Black History Month. In February 1996, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 229 commemorating Black History Month and the contributions of Black American U.S. Senators.
Nelson Mandela: South Africa’s first democratically elected President, and worked with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation after his presidency.
Sojourner Truth: A formerly enslaved woman, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
Rosa Parks: Her resistance to moving spots on the bus set in motion one of the largest social movements in history, the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks' work proved to be invaluable in Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement. She was an active member of several organizations which worked to end inequality in Detroit.
Frank Wills: He was the security guard who discovered the Watergate Break-in. His discovery at the Watergate Office Building led to one of the largest political scandals in the history of the United States and ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon on August 9, 1974.
Misty Copeland: Is the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. She started dancing at the age of 13 (serious training usually starts around 8-10 years old).
Mansa Musa: Mūsā I is widely considered the wealthiest man in history. He made his wealth and that of Mali known through a long and extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, the 17th year of his reign as emperor of Mali. Mūsā’s rule defined the golden age of Mali.
Simone Leigh: An artist specializing in displaying black women's labor throughout history. She also worked with Creative Time, a public arts organization in New York, to organize Free People’s Medical Clinic. Inspired by the Black Panther Party’s social programs, the artwork offered free wellness services for the Brooklyn community, including HIV tests, Yoga lessons, and other benefits.
Suzan-Lori Parks: She was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a pioneer of historically conscious and linguistically complex theater, her work is now taught at drama schools across the country.
Bessie Coleman: She was the first American woman to get her international pilot's license. She then became a famous stunt pilot and raised money to start a school to train African American aviators, hoping to afford them opportunities that were not then available in the U.S.
Zora Neale Hurston: Zora Neale Hurston’s ethnographic research made her a pioneer writer of “folk fiction” about African Americans in the South. She was a prominent writer in the Harlem Renaissance. Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937, is her most celebrated novel.
Garrett Morgan: He began his career as a sewing machine mechanic before patenting an improved sewing machine design and a hair-straightening product, among other inventions. His breathing device, known as a safety hood, later provided the blueprint for World War I gas masks and he invented a safer traffic light (adding the yellow light).
Bass Reeves: He was an American lawman who was one of the first deputy U.S. marshals of African descent in the American West. Reeves was responsible for apprehending criminals in a 75,000-square-mile, killing 14 outlaws, and apprehending more than 3,000 throughout his tenure (including his own son), according to contemporary reports.
Mary Fields: Better known as “Stagecoach Mary,” is both a physical and symbolic pioneer. Not only did Mary Fields traverse the rigorous Montana terrain through rain and shine, but she was the first African American woman to carry mail for the United States Post Office to travel on a Star Route. It's said she covered over 300 miles a week and ended up being beloved in the Wild West.
Doctor Daryl Davis: He made it his life's mission to convert members of white supremacy organizations (like the KKK), he's converted some 200 people and is also an R&B and Blues musician along with his doctorate as a chiropractor.
Cudjo Lewis: He was one of the last survivors of America's Slave ships and also established Africatown post-Civil War.
Percy Julian: He developed the chemical synthesis of hormones like progesterone and testosterone, laid the groundwork for modern steroids, and first American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
Lonnie Johnson: He overcame segregation to become a NASA engineer. He also invented the Super Soaker and is developing a thermoelectric device to convert solar energy into sustainable power.
Bessie Stringfield: Better known as "The Motorcycle Queen", she learned to ride at 16, got her license, did stunts, and got her license revoked- but she still rode on.
Esther Jones: She was the inspiration for Betty Boop, won first prize at a Charleston dance contest at the age of 6, and became a well-known entertainer earning $750 a week by age 11 (today that would be about $13,838 a week).
Stephen Wiltshire: He was diagnosed with autism at a young age but can still draw cityscapes from memory & published his first book at 13. He is also honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to art.
Sergeant Henry Johnson: One of the Harlem Hellfighters who helped prevent a larger German unit from breaking through French lines in World War 2.
Doris Miller: He helped his fellow soldiers evacuate during the Pearl Harbor Attack, and even turned the ships' guns onto the Japanese planes. He was the first African American recipient of the Navy Cross for valor.
John Robert Fox: He was a World War 2 Soldier that sacrificed himself to kill 100 Nazi soldiers in Sommocolonia, Italy.
Elijah McCoy: In 1872 McCoy invented a device that used steam pressure to automatically lubricate parts of a train engine while it was in motion. This automatic lubricator was extremely successful, and McCoy received a patent for it that same year. His device was also adopted in other industries, such as drilling and mining, and changed the train industry forever. He also invented the portable ironing board and the lawn sprinkler.