February is Black History Month, but have you ever wondered how it was started? After participating in the fiftieth anniversary celebration of emancipation in 1915, Carter G. Woodson (pictured Left) decided to form an organization that would be devoted to studying black history. He partnered with A. L. Jackson and three others to form the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). In 1926, Woodson sent out a press release announcing Negro History Week in February. It is said that he chose February because it held the birthdays of two prominent American leaders that shaped black history, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In the 1960s, Negro History Week became Black History Month.
In Selma during the month of February, the City of Selma hosts its annual Black Heritage Field Trip Tours to help students make the connection between Selma’s people, events, and documents and the Selma we know today. This year’s Black Heritage Field Trip Tours will be:
February 19-20, 2014
Contact the Tourism office at 334-875-7241 for more information.
