February African American Heritage Month, to highlight the important contribution to American history. The origins of this celebration date to 1926. Educator and historian Carter Woodson began a campaign in schools and the media to institute the celebration and highlight the contribution of the descendants of African slavery in the USA.
February was chosen because those days commemorate the births of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two central figures in American history. In 1976, February was established and 89 years are already celebrated throughout the country.