Black History Month, which began as Negro   History Week, was founded in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as a vehicle to "hand down information about Africans that had been altered, dismissed, or ignored," according to the NetNoir Web Site. Woodson graduated from Harvard, obtaining a master's degree and doctorate, and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.

February was chosen for this week because of the birthdays of Fredrick Douglas and  Abraham Lincoln.