N.C. A&T Alumni Times

Bluford Library Archives: Was N.C. A&T the First College to Celebrate Black History Month?

On May 31, 1932, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D. (1875–1950), who is known as "the father of Negro History," gave the commencement address at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (formerly known as A and T College). He is also the co-founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) and "Negro History Week", what is now called Black History Month. During his visit to Aggieland, it may have held an extra significance that is almost totally lost to history.

According to a 1934 A&T Register article, it was announced that Negro History Week would be celebrated throughout the nation. The article includes the following statement: "A. and T. College has always taken an active part in this (Negro History Week) movement. In fact, it was at A. and T. that the movement was inaugurated." This exact phrase was repeated a year later.

If this could be confirmed it would add a deeper meaning to N.C. A&T's role as an HBCU and as a history making institution. Unfortunately, much of A&T’s history from the 1920s and early 1930s is missing. Before looking into A&T's past, let's start with what is already widely known. Black History Month began as Negro History Week and was first promoted in 1926 by Woodson to correspond with the birthdays of Fredrick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. His fraternity Omega Psi Phi had a "Negro Literature and History Week" in 1924, but with the ASNLH, he wanted to extend this idea. A 1926 issue of the “Journal of Negro History,” edited by Dr. Woodson, claimed that North Carolina was one of the first three states in the nation with educators successfully advocating for "Negro History" to be part of the public education curriculum.

According to a Greensboro newspaper article there was a special dramatic recital by drama instructor Richard B. Harrison on Feb. 10, 1926, in honor of Negro History Week. Another article from what is now the "Greensboro News & Record" shows that Dr. Woodson made an earlier visit to A&T in November 1926 as part of a southern tour. So there actually was a Black History recognition that took place in Feb. 1926 on A&T's campus and a connection with him later that same year.

There were at least two more known Negro history celebrations at A&T before Dr. Woodson's 1932 commencement address, with recitals, chapel services, presentations and the arts in 1931 and 1932. Highlights included John D. Wray Jr.'s presentation of "The History of Negro Artists" in 1931, and readings of African-American literature by Professor R. C. Weaver in 1932.

Looking closely at the life of Dr. Woodson, there was one A&T professor who may have played a direct role in attracting the idea of a Black History Week and college curriculum to campus. Dr. Warmoth T. Gibbs (1892 – 1993), a military instructor, history professor and later our fourth president (1956 – 1960). He was also a great author, researcher and teacher of African American History. As far back as the early 1940s, he taught a class called “HIST 237: The History of the Negro.” He was also a member of the ASNLH, and some of his membership certificates were signed by Woodson from 1940 - 1942 have been rediscovered in our archives.

In addition, Gibbs gave a speech at the 1937 annual ASNLH conference. Also, like Woodson, he was also a graduate of Harvard University, and a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, but even with these connections it is unknown if they knew each other prior to 1926.

For now, more information is needed before saying A&T was the first college to celebrate what we now call, Black History Month. It does appear though that A&T supported the idea of a "Negro History Week" from the very beginning, and Dr. Woodson supported A&T.