It all started with a scholar named Carter G. Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in 1915 to research, preserve, and disseminate knowledge about Black life.
Greg Carr, an associate professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., said that Woodson founded the organization while he was a graduate student.
In February 1926, Woodson started Negro History Week, and after university students and staff pushed to extend the celebration, it evolved into Black History Month as it is currently recognized in the United States.