The Personnel Cabinet and the Office of Diversity & Equality is proud to celebrate National African American History Month this February. Below you will find information regarding the creation of African American History Month, the 2012 Presidential Proclamation by President Barack Obama and resources to help you learn and celebrate!
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), a graduate of Berea College, the University of Chicago and Harvard University, pioneered the formal study of African Americans in US History and is credited with the creation of Negro History Week in 1926. Dr. Woodson had observed that accounts of the African American experience were absent or ignored in most historical discussions and publications. Dr. Wilson chose the second week of February to commemorate the achievements and contributions of the nation’s African American population because this week coincided with the birthdates of two Americans who played significant roles in the abolition of slavery: Fredrick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
Throughout the mid Twentieth Century, Negro History Week was observed on campuses across the United States. As the Civil Rights Movement grew larger, so did the push to include the African American experience within the larger national historical narrative. By the 1960s, this weeklong recognition of the struggles, triumphs, and contributions of African Americans evolved into Black History Month. President Gerald R. Ford signed the first Presidential Proclamation designating February as Black History Month in 1976. Since that time, every United State President has designated the month of February for the celebration of African American history.
President Barack Obama proclaimed February 2012 African American History Month on January 31, 2012.
PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release - January 31, 2012
Presidential Proclamation -- National African American History Month, 2012
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
The story of African Americans is a story of resilience and perseverance. It traces a people who refused to accept the circumstances under which they arrived on these shores, and it chronicles the generations who fought for an America that truly reflects the ideals enshrined in our founding documents. It is the narrative of slaves who shepherded others along the path to freedom and preachers who organized against the rules of Jim Crow, of young people who sat-in at lunch counters and ordinary men and women who took extraordinary risks to change our Nation for the better. During National African American History Month, we celebrate the rich legacy of African Americans and honor the remarkable contributions they have made to perfecting our Union.
This year's theme, "Black Women in American Culture and History," invites us to pay special tribute to the role African American women have played in shaping the character of our Nation -- often in the face of both racial and gender discrimination. As courageous visionaries who led the fight to end slavery and tenacious activists who fought to expand basic civil rights to all Americans, African American women have long served as champions of social and political change. And from the literary giants who gave voice to their communities to the artists whose harmonies and brush strokes captured hardships and aspirations, African American women have forever enriched our cultural heritage. Today, we stand on the shoulders of countless African American women who shattered glass ceilings and advanced our common goals. In recognition of their legacy, let us honor their heroic and historic acts for years to come.
The achievements of African American women are not limited to those recorded and retold in our history books. Their impact is felt in communities where they are quiet heroes who care for their families, in boardrooms where they are leaders of industry, in laboratories where they are discovering new technologies, and in classrooms where they are preparing the next generation for the world they will inherit. As we celebrate the successes of African American women, we recall that progress did not come easily, and that our work to widen the circle of opportunity for all Americans is not complete. With eyes cast toward new horizons, we must press on in pursuit of a high-quality education for every child, a job for every American who wants one, and a fair chance at prosperity for every individual and family across our Nation.
During National African American History Month, we pay tribute to the contributions of past generations and reaffirm our commitment to keeping the American dream alive for the next generation. In honor of those women and men who paved the way for us, and with great expectations for those to follow, let us continue the righteous cause of making America what it should be -- a Nation that is more just and more equal for all its people.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2012 as National African American History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
BARACK OBAMA
INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES & EVENTS
In celebration, the Office of Diversity & Equality has provided, below, a list of resources where you can find information on the African American Experience and events commemorating Black History Month!
Kentucky
University of Kentucky African American History Month Calendar 
Lyric Theater Black History Month Program
Kentucky African American Heritage Commission
Kentucky African American Encyclopedia Project
National
PBS Black History Month Programming Schedule
Smithsonian Institute Black History Resources
National Museum of African American History & Culture
Library of Congress African American History Month Page
National Archives Black History Information Center
NAACP Black History Facts Text Program
The Maynard Institute Black History Facts
Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus Black History Celebration
2012 Theme: Black Women in American Culture & History
National Archives
To explore information related to the 2012 African American History Month Theme, "Black Women in American Culture & History," please consider visiting some of the following historical websites listed by the National Archives:
African American Women Writers of the 19th Century
From the New York Public Library’s Digital Schomburg Collection, this site offers a searchable full-text database of 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers and provides access to the thought, perspectives and creative abilities of black women as captured in books and pamphlets published prior to 1920.
African-American Women
Duke University’s online archival collection containing primary Internet sources, manuscripts, and women’s studies resources. Full text versions of diaries, letters, and newspapers offer insight into life for African American women in the South.
American Women's History: A Research Guide: African-American Women
This web site provides an extensive bibliography of resources relating to the history of African American women.
From Slave Women to Free Women: The National Archives & Black Women's History in the Civil War Era
This article by Noralee Frankel appeared in the Summer 1997 edition of NARA’s publication, Prologue.
Nikky Finney
University of Kentucky Professor and 2011 National Book Award Winner Nikky Finney has recently published a reflection on the Huffington Post on this year's National Black History Month theme, "Black Women in American History & Culture." You can read her post, titled "The Bare Arms of Angry Black Women" here.