Why Does Black History Month Take Place in February?
Overview Black History Month began in 1926 as “Negro History Week,” a one-week celebration of African-American accomplishment and history. Origin Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African-American scholar whose parents had been slaves, came up with the idea of celebrating African-American history and accomplishment. He chose the second week of February because two individuals important to African-American history, Frederick Douglass (an escaped slave who became a prominent abolitionist and writer in the mid-1800s) and President Abraham Lincoln, were born during that week.
