This February marks the 50th anniversary of Black History Month. In 1976, President Gerald Ford established Black History Month to bring attention to the contributions of Black Americans and address the historical exclusions of Black Americans from mainstream history lessons. In 1986, the United States Congress passed a law to formally establish Black History Month. It all started one hundred years ago in 1926 when Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week.
These illustrated biographies highlight the contributions of three unique African Americans who played important roles in the struggle for equality in America.
Carter G. Woodson was born in Virginia after the Civil War. Both of his parents had been born into slavery. Since slaves were not taught to read, Carter read newspaper articles to his father. Because Carter spent most of his time working on a farm he only attended school for four months each year. As a teenager Carter worked in a coal mine. He discovered books written by African American authors while working with a Civil War veteran named Oliver Jones. Mr. Jones provided books and newspapers for the miners and even created a reading room in his home. Once again, it was Carter’s job to read the newspaper out loud to others. When the miners had questions, Carter searched the newspapers for answers. At age twenty, Carter began high school which he completed in only two years. He went on to college, became a teacher, and earned two advanced degrees.
Carter loved learning about history but wondered why the lessons rarely mentioned African Americans. Because he questioned the absence of stories about African Americans in United States history classes and he founded the first Black History Week in 1926, Carter G. Woodson is known as the father of Black History.
Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina by Lea Lyon and A. LaFaye; Illustrated by Jessica Gibson
Have you ever heard of the bookmobile ballerina?
As a child, Sylvia Townsend watched ballet dancers performing on television and longed to learn to do leaps and twirls herself. Her family couldn’t afford expensive dancing lessons so she visited the bookmobile in her town to find books about dancing. Determined to be a dancer, she made her own ballet barre, practiced ballet positions and steps, and taught dance moves to children in her neighborhood which earned her the nickname Bookmobile Ballerina. When Sylvia performed in her school talent show, one dancer suggested Sylvia audition for a well-known Russian ballet teacher. Even though Sylvia had never taken a dance class before, Madame Sawicka was so impressed with her performance that she offered to give her free dance lessons. As an adult, Sylvia Townsend created her own dance company and opened her own school—the Art of Ballet School of Dance.
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton; Illustrated by Lauren Semmer
In the 1960s Black actresses typically only played the roles of servants on television. Things changed in 1966 when Nichelle Nichols was cast as Lieutenant Uhura on the popular television show Star Trek and created one of the most memorable characters in science fiction.
When she was growing up, Nichelle loved performing, singing, and dancing. Her groundbreaking role on the television show Star Trek did not please everyone and at one low point Nichelle felt so discouraged that she told the producer she was going to leave the show. A chance meeting with Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and hearing how much he and other African Americans felt when they watched Nichelle crossing the galaxy as Uhura inspired her to change her mind and return to the set.
Nichelle Nichols was a true trailblazer off screen, too. In real life she worked with NASA to recruit candidates, particularly women and minorities, interested in the venturing into space.
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