Black History Month was created by Carter G. Woodson, PhD, in February 1926. Originally called Negro History Week, Woodson created the concept so students would have the opportunity to learn about Black History. Woodson chose the second week in February in celebration of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. For additional information and resources, view the Supplemental Resources page.. To request a presentation for your school please call 584-7500. For questions about events and activities please call our office.

Upcoming Events & Activities

Printable Flier (in PDF)

Read at a School During the African American Read-In!

We are looking for volunteers to read with students during the African American Read-In! Classrooms in schools throughout Tucson Unified will celebrate Black History Month with the African American Read-In. Teachers and volunteers will read to students from books, selections from novels, short stories, poems, and plays by African American writers and illustrators. Sign Up Here!

Speak at a School!

In addition to readers, we're also looking for speakers! If you'd like to speak at a school, please sign up through our Black History Month Speaker Sign-Up page.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - can be a wonderful celebration of the contributions that African Americans have made to American history and culture. All too often, however, those contributions are heralded in February but seldom mentioned throughout the rest of the year. Ideally, every month’s history curriculum should include those contributions, but how do you integrate African American history into the curriculum on a regular basis?

Go beyond approaches that marginalize African American history by "shifting the lens" to look at events from new perspectives. For ideas on how to best accomplish this, visit the following websites:

• Beyond Black History Month
• Alternatives to the Famous Person Report