GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Lectures, performances, sing-alongs and art shows are just a few of the events going on around West Michigan in February to mark Black History Month.
The idea first came about in 1915, when thousands of African Americans traveled to Chicago from around the nation to see exhibits highlighting progress by Black people in the 50 years since slavery had been abolished. Inspired by this event, a man named Carter G. Woodson created an organization to “promote the scientific study of Black life and history,” according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History .
Over the years, the idea grew and more organizations got involved. Weeks of study expanded into a whole month. February was chosen for “reasons of tradition and reform,” ASAALH said, and because of the birthdays of two Americans who “played a prominent role in shaping Black history” — President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass — on the 12th and 14th, respectively.