Black History Month

1. Black History Month Black Migrations February 2019

2. Black History Month Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their immeasurable impact on the history of the United States. The annual celebration of Black Americans’ achievements is credited to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Known as “The Father of Black History,” Woodson dedicated his life and career to the field of African-American history and lobbied extensively to establish Black History Month as a nationwide institution. Dr. Carter G. Woodson

3. Black History Theme/Presentation The theme Black Migrations emphasizes the movement of people of African descent to new destinations and subsequently to new social realities in the United States. This massive demographic shift remade our nation in ways that are still being felt today—culturally, politically, and socially. This presentation gives a snapshot of the history of the Great Migration and a few individuals whose achievements changed our lives. Black History theme

4. The Great Migration Timeframe Between 1915 and 1970, more than 6 million African Americans moved out of the South to cities across the Northeast, Midwest and West in search of higher wages in industrial jobs and better social and political opportunities. This relocation—called the Great Migration—resulted in massive demographic shifts across the United States. From a geographical context, historians divide the Migration into two periods: 1910-1940 and 1940-1970, with a pause in migration during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The Great Migration 1910 to 1970 World War I/Great Migration

5. World War I Impact When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, industrialized urban areas in the North, Midwest and West faced a shortage of industrial laborers, as the war put an end to the steady tide of European immigration to the United States and millions of men left to serve in the Armed Forces. Between 1910 - 1930, New York, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Cleveland saw their Black populations grow by about 40 percent, and the number of Blacks employed in industrial jobs doubled. The Great Migration 1910 to 1970 World War I/Great Migration

6. New Opportunities Not only was there a massive demographic shift during this time, African Americans began to build a new place for themselves in public life. They actively confronted racial prejudice as well as economic, political and social challenges to create a Black urban culture that would have an enormous influence in the decades to come. During the migration many people found doors opening into areas that had been previously denied resulting in an explosion of opportunitiesin the arts, sports, science, technology, and politics.

7. W. C. Handy The child of former slaves who were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, W. C. Handy entered into a new era for Black people—an era that he himself would help define by introducing his people’s music to the world. Although many musicians played the distinctively American blues music, Handy took the blues from a regional music style (Delta blues) with a limited audience to a new level of popularitybecoming the “Father of the Blues.” W.C. Handy

8. Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance—an African American artistic movement in the 1920s—that celebrated Black life and culture. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. • Hughes had a strong sense of racial pride. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children’s books, he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality. Langston Hughes

9. Dr. Charles Drew Dr. Charles Drew was a surgeon and researcher who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized America’s first large-scale blood bank. Drew’s exhaustive research allowed medics during World War II to save thousands of lives. Among his other innovations was a mobile blood donation station, later called “bloodmobiles.” Dr. Charles Drew

10. Dr. Dorothy Height Dr. Dorothy Height fought against race and gender prejudice her whole life—starting from the age of 12—when she demanded to speak to the manager after being denied entrance to a swimming pool because of the color of her skin. • Height went on to participate in virtually every major civil rights event from the 1950s through the1980s. She was a leader within the Young Women’s Christian Association and fought to ensure integration of all facilities nationwide.She worked with Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women,fighting for equal employment, pay and education for women. Dorothy Height

11. Jacob Lawrence Jacob Lawrence was a painter known for his portrayal of African-American life. He referred to his style as “dynamic cubism,” though by his own account the primary influence was the shapes and colors of Harlem.Lawrence’s parents had moved their family from the rural south to the north for a chance at a better life. • At 23 years old, he began work on a set of paintings portraying the Great Migration. He found a way to share the struggles, triumphs and adversity of the Migration through his art, weaving together 60 panels into one continuous story. Jacob Lawrence

12. Jackie Robinson Riding one of the trains out of the South was Mallie Robinson, whose husband had left her and their family under the rule of an unforgiving plantation owner in Georgia. In 1920, she and her five children migrated more than 2,200 miles to California. Her youngest child, Jackie, would go on to earn four letters in athletics in a single year at UCLA, serve in the U.S. Army, and break down the color barrier to become the first Black to play Major League Baseball in the 20th century. Jackie Robinson

13. Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender One of ten children and a sharecropper’s daughter, Clara Adams-Ender was the first woman to receive her master’s degree in military arts and sciences from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She is also the first Black Nurse Corps officer to graduate from the U.S. Army War College. She has been the recipient of the Legion of Merit award, the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal with oneoak leaf cluster, a Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and Commendation Medal. She retired in 1993. Clara Adams-Ender

14. Conclusion • Fannie Lou Hamer said, “Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.” • As in the past, Black Americans today continue to write our nation’s story with their commitment to the arts, sports, science, technology, politics and defense of the United States.

15. End Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida December 2019 All photographs are public domain and from various sources, as cited. The information in this document is not to be construed as an official DEOMI, U.S. Military Services, or Department of Defense position.