“In 1926…Historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week”. This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which Black communities had celebrated since the 19th century…The thought process behind the week was never recorded, but scholars acknowledge two reasons for its birth: recognition and importance…primary emphasis was placed on encouraging the coordinated teaching of the history of Black Americans in the nation’s public schools. ..At the time of Negro History Week’s launch, Woodson contended that the teaching of Black History was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of Blacks within broader society:

“If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated…”

Source: wikipedia, Black History Month

“A lone man refusing to do the Nazi salute, 1936” May 17, 2014 rarehistoricalphoto.com