About National Freedom Day

National Freedom Day is observed yearly on February 1. Major Richard Robert Wright Sr., a former slave, fought to have a day when freedom for all Americans is celebrated. When Wright got his freedom, he went on to become a successful businessman and community leader in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Major Wright chose February 1 as National Freedom Day in recognition of the 13th Amendment. It was on this day in 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln signed a joint House and Senate resolution that would ultimately be ratified as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The 13th Amendment extended and expanded on the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln had issued in 1863, which only applied to enslaved people living in states under rebellion. On June 30, 1948, the bill to designate February 1 as National Freedom Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman.

How Black History Week Became Black History Month

Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities all across the nation to celebrate in local ways, create history clubs and hold performances and lectures.

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, which was also 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.”

Every American president since 1976 has designated February as Black History Month with a specific theme. The ASALH maintains a list of the Black History Month Themes. This year, the theme is Black Resistance, which explores how "African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms and police killings" since the beginning of the nation. It is also important to highlight the contributions of many African Americans that have been critical to resistance efforts over the years. Here are a few of the many historical figures that demonstrated resistance:

  • Coretta Scott King – Mrs. King’s work and passion is highlighted in a new film “Dear Coretta”
  • Quock Walker – Learn about this local man who fled his enslavement and sued for his freedom on the Black Gems Unearthed YouTube channel maintained by Brandeis staff member, Jazz Dottin.
  • Ida B. Wells – A journalist and activist for women’s rights who documented the widespread practice of lynching. Learn more about her at the Ida Wells Society Namesake page.

Additional resources

  • The Association for the Study of African American Life and History founded Black History Month. The organization's mission is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community.
  • The Black History Month Library of Congress site is a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.