Manchester City Library

Join us as we celebrate Black History Month! Our Country’s annual celebration recognizes the central role of African Americans in U.S. History.

Black History Month was once “Negro History Week,” founded by noted historian Carter G. Woodson. Together with prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland, they founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in 1915. In 1926, the ASNLH sponsored a national Negro History week, which inspired schools and communities to organize local events and host performances and lectures. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s helped evolve the week-long celebration into a month-long national observance, and President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History month in 1976.

The 2020 theme is “African Americans and the Vote”, which honors the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women’s suffrage (1920) and the anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) giving black men the right to vote.

This February, you can find books that celebrate the African American voices in literature. From coming-of-age stories to science-fiction and fantasy, and some powerful nonfiction that discusses race, racism, and Black Identity in the United States.

Check out our Reading List for 2020! You’ll see some classics, and some new voices, too!