Come celebrate African American History Month at PAH Wednesday, February 8, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in the Zubrow Auditorium. PAH’s Black History Committee will present “A Day of Entertainment & Trivia” where a group of talented staff and guest performers come together in honor and recognition of our country’s rich African American history. All are welcome to attend this fun and uplifting event filled with poetry, song, refreshments and more.
For more information, please contact Lurie Forney, at 215-829-3326 or forneyl@pahosp.com; or Carolyn Griggs at 215-829-6470 or carolyn.griggs@uphs.upenn.edu.
Image courtesy of bplolinenews.blogspot.com
February is African American History Month - About This Year’s Theme
The theme of this year’s African American History Month is "Black Women in American Culture and History.” The theme is in honor of African American women and the myriad of roles they played in the shaping of our nation. The theme, chosen by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History urges all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contribution to the nation.
The History Behind this “History Month”
As a Harvard-trained historian, Carter G. Woodson, like W. E. B. Du Bois before him, believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice. His hopes to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization was realized when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
By the time of Woodson's death in 1950, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life and substantial progress had been made in bringing more Americans to appreciate the celebration. At mid–century, mayors of cities nationwide issued proclamations noting Negro History Week. The Black Awakening of the 1960s dramatically expanded the consciousness of African Americans about the importance of black history, and the Civil Rights movement focused Americans of all color on the subject of the contributions of African Americans to our history and culture.
The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation's bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued African American History Month proclamations. And the association—now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—continues to promote the study of Black history all year.
