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February 19th, 2021 - SpeakOut

EDITOR:

February is Black History Month and perhaps many people are not aware of how this started and why it’s in February.

It all began in 1875 when Carter Godwin Woodson was born in Virginia to former slaves, the year before Reconstruction abruptly ended. The horrors of Jim Crow had not yet begun and black men could travel rather freely. So Woodson went to West Virginia to start high school at the age of 20. He received his diploma in two years, followed by his Bachelor’s at Kentucky’s Berea College, then his Master's from the University of Chicago.

Woodson taught high school in Washington D.C. before being accepted to Harvard, earning a Ph.D. in 1912, becoming only the second black man to do so, the first being W.E.B. Du Bois. Woodson was determined to remedy the lack of awareness of the role of black people in this country and the indifference of much of the academic world to remedy this. 

Woodson, along with other black educators, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History on September 9, 1915, in Chicago. He firmly believed that education was the best way to reduce racism, and promoted the organized study of African-American history. 

In 1926, in Washington, D.C., Woodson pioneered the first celebration of "Negro History Week" during the second week of February, to coincide with Abraham Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’s birthdays. It remained an affair mostly for black people and institutions until 1970, when Kent State University expanded this idea to include the entire month of February. 

President Gerald Ford decreed Black History Month a national observance in 1976, stating, “In celebrating Black History Month, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Ronnie Nichols

Rehoboth Beach

Send Letters to the Editor, 300 words or fewer, to: editor@camprehoboth.com.

‹ February 19th, 2021 - In Brief up February 19th, 2021 - Intentionally Inclusive by Wesley Combs ›

Past Issues

Issues Index

  • December 17, 2021 - Issue Index
  • November 19, 2021 - Issue Index
  • October 22, 2021 - Issue Index
  • September 24, 2021 - Issue Index
  • August 20, 2021 - Issue Index
  • July 16, 2021 - Issue Index
  • June 18, 2021 - Issue Index
  • May 14, 2021 - Issue Index
  • April 16, 2021 - Issue Index
  • March 19, 2021 - Issue Index
  • February 19th, 2021 - Issue Index
    • February 19th, 2021 - Cover to Cover with Issuu
    • February 19th, 2021 - The Way I See It by David Mariner
    • February 19th, 2021 - In Brief
    • February 19th, 2021 - SpeakOut
    • February 19th, 2021 - Intentionally Inclusive by Wesley Combs
    • February 19th, 2021 - CAMP News
    • February 19th, 2021 - It's My Life by Michael Thomas Ford
    • February 19th, 2021 - CAMP Houses by Rich Barnett
    • February 19th, 2021 - Community News
    • February 19th, 2021 - Out & Proud by Stefani Deoul
    • February 19th, 2021 - LGBTQ+ YA Column by Barbara Antlitz
    • February 19th, 2021 - Out & About by Eric C. Peterson
    • February 19th, 2021 - Health and Wellness by Marj Shannon
    • February 19th, 2021 - Health & Wellness Classes
    • February 19th, 2021 - Straight Talk by David Garrett
    • February 19th, 2021 - Historical Headliners by Ann Aptaker
    • February 19th, 2021 - Inspiring Illusion by Stephani Deoul
    • February 19th, 2021 - CAMP Shots
    • February 19th, 2021 - Dining Out by Fay Jacobs
    • February 19th, 2021 - Spotlight on the Arts by Doug Yetter
    • February 19th, 2021 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer
    • February 19th, 2021 - The Real Dirt by Eric W. Wahl
    • February 19th, 2021 - We Remember

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