It’s Black History Month!
Why is Black History Month
in February?
Both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were born in February.
Abraham Lincoln
• First Republican president
• Signed the Emancipation
Proclamation in 1863
• Assassinated in April, 1865
Frederick Douglass
• Escaped slavery as a boy
• Published an antislavery paper
called the North Star
• Was an advisor to President
Lincoln during the Civil War
What does Black History Month
celebrate?
Black History Month celebrates African-American contributions in
many areas of American life.
These areas include:
Social Advances
Sports
Arts and Entertainment
Social Advances
In the 1960s, African-Americans worked hard to be treated just like everyone else.
This was known as the Civil Rights Movement.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thurgood Marshall
Rosa Parks
Civil Rights Movement
Sports
Click the picture to see Jackie Robinson hit a homerun.
Jackie Robinson becomes the first
African-American to play Major
League baseball. Jesse Owens wins 4 Gold medals
at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s
homerun record.
Arts and Entertainment
Click the picture to hear Bessie Smith
Quic kTime™ and a
Cinepak Codec by Radius decompres sor
are needed to see this picture.
Bessie Smith was one of the
biggest stars of the 1920s.
Louis Armstrong was one of the
Trumpet player Wynton Marsalis most famous recording artist of
Opera star Kathleen Battle the 1920s through the 1970s.
Movie star Morgan Freeman
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929 - 1968
Dr. King visiting Memphis, TN
He was killed the next day.
Click the picture to hear Dr. King.
Martin Luther King, Jr. worked hard for the rights of African-Americans. Dr. King was well
known for using non-violent ways to get America’s attention.
Rosa Parks
1913 -
On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was
arrested for not giving her seat to a white man.
This led to a 381-day bus boycott in
Montgomery, Alabama. The Supreme Court
ruled in November 1956 that segregation on
transportation is unconstitutional.
Mrs. Parks during the Civil Rights movement
Thurgood Marshall
1908 - 1993
Click the picture to see Thurgood Marshall
QuickTime™ and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Thurgood Marshall was the nation's first African-American Supreme
Court justice.
The Civil Rights Movement
The End