This story first aired on February 21, 2022. It aired most recently in the February 5, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
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Black History Month is winding down and we wanted to know: what’s the history of Black History Month?
The idea came from a man named Carter G. Woodson in 1915. He created an organization called the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The purpose was to raise awareness of the history of Black people. In 1926 Woodson started the first “Negro History Week.”
In this interview, we hear from Stanford Historian Michael Hines about Woodson’s story and how his idea would become the month that we celebrate today.
Read more in this article from Stanford News about The history of Black History Month.
This interview was produced by Erin Copp.
