February is African American History Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Voices from the Southern Civil Rights Movement
"Voices from the Southern Civil Rights Movement" presents educational and noncommercial radio programs from the 1950s and 1960s that offer historic testimonies – in interviews, speeches, and on-the-spot news reports – from many movement participants, both well-known and unknown. Presented by the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and the Library of Congress.
African American History at America’s National Parks
Visit a multitude of park sites dedicated to African American history and culture. View Museum exhibits, go on a travel itinerary, or read in-depth histories and interviews of famous African Americans and how they shaped the United States.
Veterans History
African Americans serving in the military service throughout U.S. history have often fought on two fronts: fighting the actual enemy and fighting a system of segregation and exclusion.
Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
The Tuskegee Airmen (National Park Service)
For Teachers
Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.
2016 Event Hightlights
February 2-5
Film: Going the Distance
The original musical tells the story of how Olympians Jesse Owens and Wilma Rudolph overcame childhood illness, infirmity and poverty to become the world’s fastest man and woman.
(Smithsonian Institution, S. Dillon Ripley Center)
February 3
Lecture and Book Signing
Sonja B. Williams discusses and signs her new book "Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio and Freedom."
(Library of Congress)
February 6
African American Pioneers in Aviation Family Day
The National Air and Space Museum celebrates African American contributions to flight and space exploration. The day includes hands-on activities and stories from astronauts and fighter pilots.
(Smithsonian Institution, Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center)
February 10
Lecture and Book Signing
"The Long Emancipation: The Demise of Slavery in the United States" Author Ira Berlin offers a framework for understanding slavery’s demise in the United States.
(National Archives)
February 19
Book Talk
“Finding Charity Folks: Public Memory and the Construction of an Enslaved Biography.” Historian Jessica Millward discusses her book, Finding Charity’s Folk: Enslaved and Free Black Women in Maryland, and places enslaved women in Maryland at the center of the long struggle for African American freedom.
(Library of Congress)