The White House Blog

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In 1926, the great historian and author Carter G. Woodson pioneered "Negro History Week" — a time set aside to honor African Americans and their contributions to our history.

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition," Woodson once wrote. "It becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

That week would later become Black History Month — and this year, the White House hosted a number of events and activities to celebrate the contributions and the accomplishments of African Americans both past and present.

"We don’t set aside this month each year to isolate or segregate or put under a glass case black history," the President said at last week's Black History Month reception here at the White House. "We set it aside to illuminate those threads — those living threads that African Americans have woven into the tight tapestry of this nation — to make it stronger, and more beautiful, and more just, and more free."

Watch our wrap-up video from this year's Black History Month events at the White House — and check out the following blog posts for more information on some of those events:

• Clarence B. Jones, Advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Visits the White House
• The White House to Host My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge National Convening
• Honoring the Women of the Civil Rights Movement, Both Past and Present
• Telling the Untold Stories of African Americans in STEM
• Join Us for Our First STEM Heroes Edit-a-thon
• My Brother's Keeper: A Year Later

Find out how other Departments and agencies celebrated Black History Month here.