Carter G. Woodson is considered the father of black history month.  He was the son of former slaves.  As a boy, he was educated in black schools.  At age 19, Carter Woodson entered high school completing his diploma in 2 years.  He went on to earn his master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago and later earned a doctorate from Harvard.

Carter noticed and was displeased that the history textbooks ignored America’s black population.  He wanted to change that and took on the task of writing black Americans into the nation’s history.  He founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and history.

In 1926, Woodson developed Negro History Week.  In 1976 this week was expanded into Black History Month.

The theme for 2023 Black History month is Resistance (featuring black barbers who resisted the status quo by supporting black education and civil rights movements.

http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2020/jan/30/americas-first-black-vote/