Ever wonder why Black History Month is celebrated in the shortest month? The reason why February was chosen was because it aligned with the birthdays of two important people who changed Black history forever. The names of those two people are Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass.

Why are these birthdays important? The first birthday on this week was Abraham Lincoln, who is important to Black history because he was the president who freed the slaves when he was the president during the Civil War when he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. The other birthday was Frederick Douglass, who worked tirelessly to insure that emancipation would, one hundred percent, be the Civil War’s end result.

The person who decided that the week of February 11th-17th was to be the week that celebrates Black history was Carter G. Woodson. Carter Woodson was the founder of (ASALH) or Study of African American Life and History. This named him “Father Of Black History” and he decided that February be the month we celebrate Black history month in honor of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass.

This Negro History Week which was celebrated only during the week of Abraham Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’ birthdays was expanded during the hight of the Civil Rights Movement and then officially declared as “Black History Month” by President Gerald Ford in 1976.