The celebration of African American history began in 1925 with African American History Week. Fifty years later in 1976 African American History Month began and is now celebrated each February.
The Library of Congress has a good overview of the beginnings and development of African American History Month, including links to President Ford’s address in 1975, the first Public Law in 1986, and subsequent congressional resolutions and Presidential messages and Proclamations. Here is Barack Obama’s 2012 Proclamation.
There are many ways to explore African American History:
Collins Library Resources
The Collins Library subscribes to a rich array of resources related to African American History.
- Our African American Studies Subject Guide is a great place to start to discover important resources that document the African American experience. The Collins Library subscribes to a number of electronic subject encyclopedias (including Encyclopedia of Black Studies, Encyclopedia of African American popular culture, and Encyclopedia of African-American Culture) as well as periodical databases where you can find relevant journal articles. The library also has many current relevant books as noted in the subject guide.
- The Oxford African American Studies Center is another good starting point for information and includes biographies, timelines, subject entries and primary sources.
Note: For remote access to Collins Library subscription resources, please login with your Puget Sound email username and password.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress and the National Archives recognizes African American History with this year’s theme “Black Women in American Culture and History”. The web site honors 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 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Schomburg Center is a research unit of The New York Public Library. Two ways you can use their resources remotely are:
- View their digital resources
- Sign up for the Schomburg Center Black History Pearls of Wisdom. During Black History Month in February, the Center will share with you one of these pearls with you each week.
**************************************************
Image caption: Booker T. Washington delivering his Tuskegee Institute Silver Anniversary lecture in 1906.
Want to know more about Booker T. Washington? Check out the books in the Collins Library and the Library of Congress Guide Booker T. Washington: Online Resources