Black History Month

Overview

Each February, the United States celebrates Black History Month,(Open external link) honoring the contributions and achievements of Black Americans throughout the history of the United States. 

The origins of Black History Month date back as far as 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson,(Open external link) a founder of an organization that was then called the Association for Negro Life and History. At the time, few people studied Black history, and it was largely absent from textbooks and the classroom. Dr. Woodson intended to bring awareness to often overlooked historical events and important figures from the Black community.

The second week of February was chosen by his organization to build upon existing traditions(Open external link) within the Black community of celebrating the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, while also aiming to reform and expand the focus of these celebrations from beyond these two men towards a broader recognition of the entire Black community.

Expanded to a month-long celebration for the first time by  President Gerald Ford in 1976,(Open external link) Black History Month is now recognized not just in the United States(Open external link) but also in places like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, among  others. Today, it serves as a reminder of both how much has been accomplished since Dr. Woodson first began his advocacy work, and also of the progress yet to be made.

In 2025, Dr. Woodson’s organization, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), has chosen the  theme of “African Americans in Labor,”(Open external link)  which focuses on the ways in which “work and working of all kinds—free and unfree, skilled and unskilled, vocational and voluntary—intersect with the collective experiences of Black people… across time and space and throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora.” 

This month, and all year long, we encourage our students, families, and teachers to explore the resources below to learn more about this important part of our nation’s history and the Black Americans that helped shape the world we all live in today.

Events, Exhibitions, and Places to Visit

• On Thursday, February 13, 2025, the Schomburg Center will host the 17th Annual Black History Month Celebration at 6:30PM, featuring a free concert(Open external link) by the Harlem Chamber Players.
• Of interest during Black History Month at the New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Libraries:
• “JIMMY! God’s Black Revolutionary Mouth” is also on view at the Schomburg Center through February 28, 2025. In celebration of James Baldwin’s 100th birthday, the exhibition highlights his literary career and legacy from childhood to death, and illuminates the passion, brilliance, and courageous spirit of James “Jimmy” Baldwin.
• “Rhythm Is My Business: Women Who Shaped Jazz” (Open external link)is on view at the New York Library for the Performing Arts through June 13, 2025. This exhibition showcases the diverse talents and groundbreaking work of the extraordinary female musicians who contributed to the history of jazz music.
• The New York Public Library,(Open external link) the Brooklyn Public Library,(Open external link) and the Queens Public Library(Open external link) will also be hosting events at their branches across all five boroughs throughout the month. Join them for author talks and panels, book discussions, trivia, STEAM activities and story times for kids, and more.
• Celebrate at the King Manor Museum with their free program “Hands-On Black History,”(Open external link) on Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 1–4PM. This year’s program will focus on the legacy of Thomas Downing, known as the “Oyster King” of New York, and participants will even have an opportunity to practice oyster filtration and investigate the habitats of oysters!
• The New-York Historical will have family programming(Open external link) related to Black History throughout the month. While you’re at the museum, you can see their ongoing installation, “Our Composite Nation: Frederick Douglass’ America,”(Open external link) dedicated to one of the abolitionist’s most famous speeches, accompanied by their digital family guide.(Open external link) In addition, relevant online exhibitions include Black Dolls(Open external link) and Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow.(Open external link)
• “Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100”(Open external link) is an exhibition on view at The Museum of the City of New York through July 20, 2025. The exhibition commemorates the centennial of the birth of Shirley Chisholm—the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
• From rebellions led by enslaved people, to the birthplace of hip hop, there is a centuries-long connection between Black History and New York City parks(Open external link)—all month long, you can visit a park where Black history was made and attend events(Open external link) and showcases across the City.
• Take a walk along the Flushing Freedom Mile(Open external link) in Queens to see a number of important historical locations, including multiple sites that were rumored stops along the Underground Railroad. The In Pursuit of Freedom(Open external link) initiative also has additional walking tours that explore the abolitionist history of Brooklyn throughout different neighborhoods, along with an accompanying PDF guide(Open external link) that provides additional historical context.

Many of these books are readily available via New York’s public libraries, as well as through the Citywide Digital Library available on Sora(Open external link) for our students, where you can also check out the Black History Month: Remembering the Past & Shaping the Future Collection,(Open external link) featuring over 400 titles in e-book and audiobook formats. For even more, the New York Public Library’s “Black Liberation Reading Lists” for Teens(Open external link) and for Kids,(Open external link) curated by the Schomburg Center, has additional titles to enjoy all month long.

The March Trilogy & Other Black History Comics

March is a series of graphic novels by the late Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis, that many teachers may already be using in their classrooms.

Congressman Lewis also appeared at the New York Historical Society—his last stage appearance in his lifetime—to give a talk to NYC public school teachers and students, which is available to watch on YouTube,(Open external link) and pairs with the “Freedom Now” lesson plan(Open external link) on the March on Washington. For more, we also recommend reading and learning more about “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,”(Open external link) a civil rights comic originally published in 1957.

NYC Public Schools, in partnership with Good Trouble Comics, has also created several additional comics that are great resources for Black History Month lessons, and all year round:

• “Action Activists” Volume 2,(Open external link) intended for middle school students, tells the stories of historical figures fighting for change, like David Ruggles, an abolitionist in New York City who was a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad.
• Volume 1 of "Recognized,"(Open external link) a series of LGBTQ+ graphic histories, features the stories of Alain Locke, considered a founding father of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, two transgender activists who were instrumental figures in the Stonewall Riots.  Volume 2(Open external link) tells the story of Bayard Rustin.
• “Barrier Breaker”(Open external link) is a comic intended for middle and high school students which tells the story of the history-making baseball player, Jackie Robinson.
• Volume 1 of “Jali: Literature of Africa and the Diaspora”(Open external link) is a graphic adaptation of a short story by Ethiopian author Haddis Alemayehu, called “When Satiety Marries Avarice, Hunger is Born.” The story, which originally appeared in a 1956 collection of fables, is an allegory for colonialism.
• "Lukasa: History of Africa and the Diaspora" Volume 1(Open external link) is the first in a series of graphic histories of the Global African Diaspora. This volume tells the story of Olaudah Equiano
• "The Graphic History of Hip Hop" Volume 1 (Open external link) is a unique educational resource that analyzes one of the most important cultural revolutions in urban and world history. 

Video and Audio Resources

• Seizing Freedom(Open external link) is a podcast series that draws on archives of the voices of Black Americans to tell the story of tiny, everyday acts that contributed to the end of slavery in America, telling the “story of the end of the Civil War you’ve probably never been taught.” The Zinn Education Project also has compiled lesson ideas and relevant primary sources into a resource called “Teaching with Seizing Freedom”(Open external link) that educators can use in their classrooms alongside the podcast.
• Hear from speakers on a wide range of topics in a collection of TedTalks to Celebrate Black History Month.(Open external link)
• Learn about pivotal figures from literature, sports, science, and more in the Tell Me More series “Paying Homage to Black History Heroes”(Open external link) from NPR.
• Also from NPR, the "In Black America"(Open external link) podcast profiles a diverse selection of current and historically significant figures to highlight their lives and stories.
• Watch a video on Victor Green, a New York City postal worker, and the creation of the Green Book(Open external link) which helped Black Americans travel safely throughout the era of Jim Crow.
• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has an informative series called “Storied,”(Open external link) which tells the history of Black people in organized baseball throughout 22 short video episodes. For more learning on this topic, educators may be interested in the lesson plan “The Negro Leagues: Joy, Perseverance, & Pride in Black Spaces.”(Open external link)
• Learn about Seneca Village,(Open external link) an African American enclave that was once located on the perimeter of Central Park(Open external link) from West 82nd to West 89th Street from 1825 to 1857, and the Williams Family Legacy.(Open external link)
• Learn more about the history and legacy of jazz music from the National Jazz Museum in Harlem with their video series “Harlem Speaks Oral History.”(Open external link) 
• “60 Second Civics”(Open external link) by the Center for Civic Education is a collection of podcasts and videos celebrating Black History Month. The site also includes lesson plans teaching the story of the civil rights movement and the power of nonviolent action to effect change.

Educator Resources

• The 1619 Project: Connections to the Passport to Social Studies and Civics For All Curricula(Open external link) is a resource created by the NYC Public Schools that identifies lessons that can be used to support, amplify, and help students connect and create context for the ideas presented in the New York Times’ 1619 Project, an initiative which marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival of more than 20 Africans at Point Comfort in the Virginia Colony, and which seeks to center the role and agency of African Americans in the larger narrative of United States History.
• The New York Public Library’s  “Schomburg Syllabus”(Open external link) is an archive of new and recent educational resources relating to Black studies, movements, and experiences, organized in 27 different themes ranging from fashion and music to environmental racism and gentrification.
• PBS(Open external link) has a collection of resources for grades 6–12 that includes lesson plans and videos that cover topics ranging from important civil rights anniversaries to discussions about race in current events.
• The  National Archives and Records Administration(Open external link) has a collection of primary and secondary sources, as well as selected resources from other Federal sites such as the National Parks Service and Library of Congress.
• The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture  Learning Lab(Open external link) and their  “Discover the North Star”(Open external link) digital collection contain useful classroom resources that use objects, documents, imagery, and videos from the museum to help students learn about a wide range of subjects.
• Learn about the intersections between education and the Civil Rights Movement through the National Park Service’s  (H)our History Lessons(Open external link) about school desegregation efforts. The NPS also provides informative  “Teaching With Historic Places”(Open external link) lesson plans, including one about the history of the  African Burial Ground National Monument(Open external link) in Manhattan.
• The "In Pursuit of Freedom"  curriculum guide(Open external link) provides a framework to learn about the abolitionist history of Brooklyn throughout the 19th century. Adaptable for students in grades 4–12, the guide contains primary sources that will help students understand the anti-slavery activism taking place there across all walks of life. 
• TeachRock has several lesson plans that explore the influence of Black music and musicians, as well as the context in which these genres and stars emerged.  “Alright” and the History of Black Protest Songs(Open external link) tackles protest songs that defined 20th and 21st century political movements, from Marvin Gaye to Kendrick Lamar, and  The Gospel Origins of “Chain of Fools”(Open external link) tells the story of Aretha Franklin bringing soul music into mainstream culture.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities has a Teacher's Guide on  African American History and Culture in the United States,(Open external link) in addition to a large range of lesson plans and curricula,(Open external link) categorized by appropriate grade level, on various topics related to Black history, including the New Deal,(Open external link) various movements that emerged in the Civil Rights Era,(Open external link) the history and legacy of African American spirituals(Open external link) and more.
• The New York Times’ Learning Network has an extensive assembly of educational resources, including materials related to the 1619 Project, called  “Celebrating Black History with the New York Times”(Open external link) that contains a collection of historic front pages from the Times dating back to the 1800s, thoughtful essays about topics like how we teach history, relevant culture, sports, and opinion articles, and obituaries for notable Black Americans, among many other helpful primary and secondary sources.
• Several resources on history-making Black women are available from the National Women’s History Museum, including:
  • Investigating Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune: Uncovering Her Legacy Through Inquisitive Inquiry,(Open external link) in which students will evaluate how Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune supported civil rights for women and African Americans, engaged in social activism, and how her legacy still impacts the United States today.
  • Women’s Rights LAB: Black Women’s Clubs,(Open external link) in which students learn more about Black Women’s Clubs, Mary Church Terrell, and the Women's Suffrage Movement.
  • The Life of Ona Judge,(Open external link) in which students will examine the impact of slavery on African American women, and the historical context of slavery in the American early republic period.
• From Facing History and Ourselves, students can learn about the  Reconstruction Era(Open external link) that followed the Civil War and the intense and violent political backlash that followed(Open external link) earlier progress towards racial equity.
• Two crowdsourced curricula, the #BlackPanther Syllabus(Open external link) and the  #Wakanda Syllabus,(Open external link) are resources curated by scholars to help teach the history of Black power, Black nationalism, and more.
• The Center for Racial Justice has assembled Resource Guide(Open external link) that is especially useful for educators grappling with questions about why and how to teach about Black history in their own classrooms, and includes several lesson plans and curriculum guides. For additional resources regarding what it means to teach Black History,  Learning For Justice(Open external link) has a resource called “How Are You Teaching Black History?” and  EdWeek(Open external link) has a series called “How to Get Black History Right.”

Hidden Voices

• Hidden Voices: Untold Stories in New York City History,(Open external link) which includes profiles of significant Black figures like Maria Van Angola, Eliza Jennings Graham, David Ruggles, and Elsie Richardson
• Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in United States History,(Open external link) which features prominent Black members of the community among its profiles, like Rebecca Primus, Addie Brown, Ma Rainey, Bayard Rustin, and Audre Lorde
• Hidden Voices: Stories of the Global African Diaspora Volume 1,(Open external link) which delves into the perspectives, experiences, and impact that peoples of African descent have had—and continue to have—on United States and world history

In addition to these lessons, we regularly feature profiles of history-making individuals who could be considered  “hidden voices.” During Black History Month, check out our profiles on:

• Maritcha Lyons,(Open external link) a lifelong educator and activist in New York City, became one of the City's first Black assistant principals. Throughout her career, Lyons was at the center of many of the nineteenth century's most important civil rights fights.
• Victor Hugo Green,(Open external link) a postal worker from Harlem, created the “Negro Travelers’ Green Book,” an annual travel and vacation guide published from 1936–67 that helped readers identify and travel to businesses that accepted Black customers back during an era where legalized segregation between the races was the norm.
• Florence Mills,(Open external link) a groundbreaking Broadway and theater legend, helped break jazz music out of the City’s nightclubs and into popular culture during the Roaring 20s.

You can find more of our profiles throughout the year on our Hidden Voices webpage.