That's the Black Fact: The History and Significance of Black History Month
Learn about the history and significance of Black History Month, including the role of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the evolution of the celebration from a week to a month.
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Learn about the history and significance of Black History Month, including the role of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the evolution of the celebration from a week to a month.
Black History Month (1976)
Every year we celebrate Black History in the month of February. It became a Federal institution in 1976 when President Gerald Ford made a declaration and became law signed by Congress in 1986.
But it’s true beginning was due to Harvard-educated historian and author, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who is credited with creating Black History Month. He was inspired after attending a 50th anniversary celebration of the 13th Amendment where various exhibits portrayed events in African American culture. With a mission to amplify Black people’s contributions and achievements, Woodson went on to create what is now known as the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH).
In 1926, Woodson and ASALH declared the second week of February—which aligned with Abraham Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’ birthdays—to be “Negro History Week.”
During the next 50 years, communities, schools and organizations started participating in the week-long recognition of African American trials and successes. As public interest grew, particularly during the 1960s civil rights movement, the celebration expanded from a week to a month.
Take time to research more about the celebration and the people that made this an official memorial.
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That's the Black Fact: The Devil's Punchbowl a Tragedy in History
Revisiting a tragedy in history The Devil’s Punchbowl, the post American Civil War Black concentration camp!
The Devil’s Punchbowl
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Introducing The Devil’s Punchbowl, the post American Civil War Black concentration camp!
The Devils Punchbowl (1865)
The Devil's Punchbowl is a location that has been forgotten in history occurring in 1865. This post American Civil War Black history note occurred in Natchez (Adams County), Mississippi.
As the Black enslaved made their way to freedom, the population in the town of Natchez quickly went from 10,000 to nearly 100,000. To deal with the extreme population growth due to the relocation of recent freedmen, a concentration camp was established by Union soldiers to dispose of the recently freed slaves. Don Estes, former director of the Natchez City Cemetery, said. "So, they decided to build an encampment for 'em at Devil's Punchbowl, which they walled off and wouldn't let 'em out."
The camp was called the Devil's Punchbowl because of how the area was shaped. The camp was at the bottom hollow pit with trees on the bluffs above. The women and children were locked behind the concrete walls of camp and left to die from starvation. Over 20,000 freed slaves were said to be killed inside this American concentration camp in one year.
It’s a story so horrific that it’s nearly been erased from American history.
This is a story that no matter how offensive of it may be for some, it should be remembered as a tribute to those that succumbed to the torturous ideology that prevailed at that time.
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That's the Black Fact: Introducing Hiram Rhodes Revels
Introducing Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve on the United States Senate!
Hiram Rhodes Revels
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Introducing Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve on the United States Senate!
Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827 - 1901)
Hiram Rhodes Revels was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on September 27, 1827. Despite being born in the South in a time of widespread slavery, Revels was a member of a free family. He and his brother both apprenticed as barbers. Revels' in 1845 moved from North Carolina to study in Ohio and Indiana.
Revels participated in the Civil War, organizing two Black regiments for the Union Army. He also fought for the Union at the Battle of Vicksburg. He quickly grew to be a respected member of the community, known for his keen intelligence and oratorical skills. Having no previous government experience, Revels garnered enough community support to win election to the position of alderman in 1868, during the first phase of Reconstruction.
In 1870, the state congress selected Revels to fill a vacant seat in the United States Senate. Debate surrounding his eligibility hinged on the
1857 Dred Scott decision, which precluded African American citizenship.
The decision was effectively reversed by the ratification of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War. Democrats argued that Revels did not meet the nine-year citizenship requirement to hold congressional office given his ineligibility for citizenship through the war years. Ultimately, Revels and his Republican allies prevailed by citing Revels's mixed-race background, and Revels became the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. His appointment was particularly symbolic in that the seat he occupied had previously belonged to Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.
He only held the seat for one year. He accepted the Presidency of HBCU Alcorn A&M College back in Mississippi. In addition to his administrative and teaching roles, Revels remained involved in the Methodist church, preaching until the end of his life on January 16, 1901.
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That's the Black Fact: Introducing James Edward Maceo West
Introducing James Edward Maceo West, the creator of the foil electret microphone!
James Edward Maceo West
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Introducing James Edward Maceo West, inventor and acoustician!
James Edward Maceo West 1931 -
Dr. West was born in Prince Edwards County, Virginia on February 10, 1931. West was deeply interested in radio and electronics from an early age, and he trained as a physicist. After graduating from Temple University in 1956 where he interned with Bell Labs during the summer breaks, they hired him and he began working in research on how humans hear led to his invention of the foil electret microphone in 1960.
If you've ever used a microphone, and most have, you can salute James West for it. Such devices were more sensitive, yet they used less power and were smaller than other microphones at the time, and they revolutionized the field of acoustics. Today, foil electret-style mics are used in everything from telephones to computers.
James West holds 47 patents in the United States and more than 200 foreign patents on microphones and techniques for making polymer electrets.
Dr. West was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999. He retired in 2001 after 40 years of service at Bell Laboratories, but he wasn’t finished! He took a Research Professor position with John’s Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.
So as you’re doing interviews, being interviewed, or find yourself around a microphone for any other reason, you can thank Dr. West for his contribution.
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That's the Black Fact: Introducing Sylvia Rhone
Introducing Sylvia Rhone, the Godmother of Black Music!
Sylvia Rhone
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Introducing Sylvia Rhone, music executive, record producer, and former chairman and CEO of Epic Records!
Sylvia Rhone 1952 -
Born in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Harlem, NY, Ms. Rhone can be called the Godmother of Black Music. But one of her biggest career highlights is the establishment of Sugar Hill in 1979 with her husband Joe Robinson and others.
Well before starting the label, Ms. Rhone had a career as an artist herself. She began her music career as a secretary for Buddha Records in 1974. She was promoted several times in the six years she was with the label. In 1980 she got a break in management as she was appointed the Regional Promotions Manager for Special Markets, and she was eventually promoted to director of National black music marketing for Atlantic Records.
Sylvia has produced records for artists like Ike & Tina Turner, and many others. She’s also known for the song “Pillow Talk” which incidentally was written for Al Green, who turned it down at the time due his religious beliefs, citing that the song was too risque.
Since 2014, she has been Chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records where she has nurtured rap artists like 21 Savage, Bobby Shmurda, and Future. She’s been a trailblazer her entire career.
Ms. Rhone’s resume is far too established for a three paragraph article, so we encourage you to take a look at the vast and lengthy contributions she’s added to the music industry with her voice and leadership!
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That's the Black Fact: Introducing Henry Boyd
Introducing Henry Boyd, who invented the popular Boyd Bedstead in 1826!
Henry Boyd
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Introducing Henry Boyd, inventor, carpenter, and master mechanic!
Henry Boyd (1802-1886)
Henry Boyd was born enslaved on a plantation in Kentucky in 1802. He spent the first 18 years of his life enslaved. During his youth, he was apprenticed out to a cabinet maker. He turned out to be a very skilled apprentice that allowed him to accept additional work assignments.
Doing additional work, he was able to save enough money to gain his freedom. At 24, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Ohio was a free state but its close border to Kentucky didn’t make it a welcoming state for African Americans.
To make ends meet, Boyd found work at the riverfront where most African American and Irish people found employment unloading cargo from steamboats. It wasn’t long before he became a janitor at a store.
Boyd’s fortune changed when a white carpenter showed up too drunk to work. Boyd used this opportunity to build a counter for the shopkeeper. So impressed by the craftsmanship, the storekeeper began to help him get contracted by other businesses where he found himself working side by side with white carpenters.
Henry Boyd accumulated enough money to purchase his own workshop for woodworking. His workshop soon grew to encompass four buildings located at the corner of Eighth and Broadway in Cincinnati. Here, Boyd would build and assemble bedframes of his own design, the Boyd Bedstead. This was an improvement over existing bedframes of the day.
The Boyd Bedstead utilized a right and left wood screw process, with swelled rails, making for a sturdier fit to endure more stress. He was unable to obtain a patent for it, due to the color of his skin.
In 1883 George Porter, a white cabinet maker obtained a patent for the technology Boyd used for making the beds. Boyd's bed design started to be duplicated by others. He stamped his name on each frame so that people would know that they were receiving the real Boyd Bedstead.
The H. Boyd Company, as his business was known, catered to hotels as well as individuals. In 1844, the company produced over 1,000 beds. By 1855, H. Boyd Company had expanded to include a showroom that also displayed his parlor furniture.
Sadly after a third fire destroyed his business, insurance companies refused to insure him. That led to the closing of his business for good in 1862. On March 1, 1886, Henry Boyd passed away at the age of 83. Despite his success and prominence achieved, Boyd was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in the Spring Grove Cemetary.
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That's the Black Fact: Introducing Lucy Stanton Day Sessions
That's the Black Fact: Introducing Lucy Stanton Day Sessions, the first African American woman to graduate from college!
Lucy Staton Day Sessions
“Welcome to ‘That’s the Black Fact’. In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!”
By: Ervin Green
Welcome to “That’s the Black Fact.” In this space you’ll find profiles on the culture and the people who built it!
Lucy Stanton Day Sessions (1831-1910)
Born free in Cleveland, Ohio, her father was a barber who passed before she was born, and her mother remarried later to a wealthy black businessman who was also an abolitionist and a participator in the Underground Railroad. Her stepfather created a school for African Americans because they couldn’t attend public schools.
As you can imagine, her household was all about the academics and she loved it. In 1846, she enrolled in Oberlin Collegiate Institute (now Oberlin College) where she continued to excel academically and in 1849, she was elected president of the school’s Ladies Literary Society. Sessions is believed to be the first African American woman to graduate from college in 1850. Her commencement speech was said to be a moving appeal for anti slavery.
In 1866 she was sponsored by the Cleveland Freedman's Association to teach in Georgia and later Mississippi, where she met and married her second husband in 1878. The couple moved to Tennessee where Lucy Sessions continued her philanthropic work, including serving as president of the local Women's Christian Temperance Union. She and her husband later moved to Los Angeles, California. Lucy Stanton Day Sessions died in Los Angeles in 1910.
Meet Ervin Green, contributing writer to 247 Live Culture!