Featured in February: African American History

As you may know, February is African American History Month, and we've gathered some information and links to websites that you might want to explore as we celebrate the legacy of African Americans this month...

The Library of Congress states:

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation's bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued African American History Month proclamations.

Here are just a few of the online resources out there about this celebration:

• 128 Little Known Facts about Black History Month at Biography.com

• Take an interactive journey through the Underground Railroad at Scholastic.com

• Discover the National Park Service Legends of Tuskegee online exhibit

Don't forget to check out some of our nonfiction DVDs celebrating notable African Americans and their achievements:

Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement
Documents the definitive and emotional story of the civil rights era, the 1954-1965 movement that changed the fabric of American life. Features exclusive interviews plus historical footage of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, the Little Rock school riots, the Montgomery Transit Boycott and much more. This award-winning six-hour, three-DVD documentary brilliantly illuminates the struggle for racial equality.


Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues
The PBS documentary series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues comprises seven films, each directed with a personal touch by prominent filmmakers such as legendary Clint Eastwood.


Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
Among the tasks undertaken by the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s was to transcribe the memories of those former African-American slaves who were still living. The result was a massive collection of notes, documents, and recordings, all of which found their way into the Library of Congress.

Click on each film title to visit our library's Evergreen catalog and request that item.