February marks Black History Month, a tradition that started in the Jim Crow era and was officially recognized in 1976 as part of the nation's bicentennial celebrations. It aims to honor the contributions that African Americans have made and to recognize their sacrifices.
Of course, with George Washington Carver as our namesake and having been led by Black leaders since our founding in 1938, Carver is an ardent observer of Black History Month.
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, the scholar often referred to as the "father of Black history," established Negro History Week to focus on Black contributions to civilization. According to the NAACP, Woodson — at the time only the second Black American after W.E.B. Du Bois to earn a doctorate from Harvard University — "fervently believed that Black people should be proud of their heritage and [that] all Americans should understand the largely overlooked achievements of Black Americans."
By 1976, it became official, with President Gerald R. Ford declaring February as Black History Month and calling on the public to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."
Today, Black History Month is also celebrated in Canada every February and in the United Kingdom in October. This year, the theme is "Black Resistance." "African Americans have resisted historical and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores," the ASALH says of this year's theme. "These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction."