History:

Throughout the month of February, Black History Month honors the importance of people and events of African American history. It was established to focus on the contributions of African Americans in the United States. It honors African Americans from all periods of U.S. history, from the early 17th century to Black people living in the United States today.

People: 

All around the country we are honoring African American heritage and the representatives during the month of February. 

In 1903, Maggie Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first woman to serve as a bank president.

Henrietta Lacks was a cancer patient at John Hopkins whose cancer cells became the HeLa cell line. She later died from cancer while her cells lived on to help signify the major medical discoveries of cancer treatments and cures to diseases. 

helped with the process and development of cancer cells. Which led to the discovery of the HeLa cell line.

Arthur Ashe is honored for his courage of desegregating tennis courts and standing up for equal opportunities in sports, yet he unfortunately passed away on February 6th.  

Frederick Douglass’ birthday was on Feb, 14, and he is honored for his work with abolitionists to abolish slavery. 

Events: 

LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Louisa County Historical Society is celebrating Black History Month by hosting a historical roadside marker on Saturday, Feb. 11, to honor the idea of integration in the high school during the 60’s. 

In Colonial Williamsburg, throughout Feb. 1-28, they will be honoring Black History Month by showing an African American program about the discovery of the influencers’ stories.  

Starting on Feb. 1, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia will be showcasing multiple decades of Virginia artists and their contributions to the development of jazz as an art from the early 1900s through the 1960s. 

On Thursday, Feb. 4, between 6-7pm. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be hosting an African-American Read-In. This will include poetry readings from African-American artists. 

Also on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 7pm. The Mariners’ Museum and Park will be having Virginia Waterways and the Stories of Freedom Seekers in the Underground Railroad. The spokesmen will be doing a virtual reading about the troubles, freedoms and process of the Underground Railroad.  

On Feb. 15, Henry Lewis became the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the U.S. based on Louis Armstrong’s Hello Dolly recording.

This list consists of a few American Americans that paved the road to equality for all.