Organizations celebrate 100th anniversary of Black History Month

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Some Exhibits to Come – One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

Bibliography – One Hundred Years Of Jim Crow

Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

Freedom’s Heroes During Jim Crow: Flossie Bailey and the Deeters

Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.

An Iconic Lynching in the North

Claxton Dekle – Prosperous Farmer, Husband & Father of Two

Ancient manuscripts about mathematics and astronomy from Timbuktu, Mali

Some Exhibits to Come – African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles for Adults & Children from the Henrietta Marie

Some Exhibits to Come – The Middle Passage

What I Saw Aboard a Slave Ship in 1829

Life After Hate: A Former White Power Leader Redeems Himself

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February 4, 2026

Bryant Reed, CBS News

T291185_02 — Carter G. Woodson, son of former slaves, earned his PhD from Harvard and came to be called the “Father of Black History.” He founded ASALH in 1912 and, later, Negro History Month.

Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) are celebrating the centennial of what began in 1926 as Negro History Month.

Founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, it grew into Black History Month under President Gerald Ford.

Educating about Black history

Dr. Whitehead, the ASALH President, believes this is a pivotal time for Black history.

“We’re talking about laying the groundwork, laying the foundational work that needs to be done so that Black history is taught as a part of the American historical curriculum and story,” Whitehead said. “It’s not just about only one month, and then, you know, when we come out of February, we don’t talk about Black History Month again until next year. It’s about setting aside this month to lay the foundation of work.”

Through national programs, social media and prominent speakers, ASALH lays that groundwork by maintaining its position at the forefront for black history and empowerment.

ASALH highlights all of the contributions to American history that Black people have made.

“That Black history is written in pen and not in pencil,” Whitehead said. “You cannot dismantle, you cannot erase, you cannot destroy the stories of Black people in this country

Keep reading to learn more about Black History Month as some try to erase Black history.

Discover Black history at any time in our virtual exhibits.

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