Black History Month is celebrated each year in the United States and Canada during the month of February, chosen by African-American scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month, to coincide with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and abolitionist Frederick Douglass on February 14. This is a month typically used to recognize significant contributions made by people with African heritage.
Throughout the month of February, Copper and Brass Sales will be sharing content on ways to celebrate Black heritage, along with how to educate ourselves, and perspectives that you can gain from movies, books and podcasts. Additionally, we will be sharing some inspiring stories from our own employees and possibly a few customers.
In this first week of Black History Month, we’ll begin our focus with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a notable African-American author and Harvard University scholar who founded this month of recognition in the United States. Interestingly, this wasn’t always a month-long observance. In 1926, it was originally established as Negro History Week by Dr. Woodson. His hope was that through this recognition and observance, it would remind all Americans of their ethnic roots and increase mutual respect.
Boosted by the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s, Negro History Week evolved on many college campuses into Black History Month. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially expanded the week-long observance and declared February to be Black History Month. Through this declaration he asked the public to, “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
In Canada, Black History Month was observed in different cities and provinces starting in 1979 with the first ever Canadian proclamation in Toronto. In December of 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month in Canada.
We will seize the opportunity at Copper and Brass Sales to recognize, educate, and celebrate this month. Stay tuned!
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