Teacher's Tool-Kit: Primary source materials for Black History Month

Black History Month is celebrated during the month of February.  Carter G. Woodson is credited with having called for the first celebration of a Black History Week in 1926.  Woodson's one week celebration was expanded to the full week of February in 1976.  You can read about Woodson, the "father of Black History," in this essay from the NAACP.

There is an overflowing basket of quality primary-source materials to share and study with your students that specifically address issues relevant to Black History Month.  Here is a partial list.

• The Smithsonian Institution's Education Department has this set of materials as part of its Heritage Teaching Resources. 

• The Library of Congress created this portal to resources from the National Archive, Smithsonian, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Park Service.  The exhibits and collections are well curated so that you can easily find materials dealing with subjects like Art and Design, Civil Rights, Culture and Folklife, Historic Places, Music and Performing Arts, and Slavery.   

• The Library of Virginia also has this list of valuable African American History sites.  Featured sites on this list include links to an anthology of American slave narratives, fighting massive resistance, and strong African-American men and women in Virginia history.