Black History Month

The DC Public Library proudly celebrates Black History Month during February with author talks, lectures, arts and crafts, story times and more. The 2020 theme is African Americans and the Vote. The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War. The theme speaks to the ongoing struggle for black men and women for the right to vote.

Events:

Attend author talks, explore the journey of voting rights and listen to engaging speakers. Find the featured events below and more in the calendar.

FEATURED EVENTS

Suppressed: The Fight to Vote Film Screenings Multiple Dates	31st Annual Black Film Festival Multiple Dates	Black Power in D.C. with G. Derek Musgrove Wednesday, Feb. 12	Rayceen Pendarvis is Living Black History Thursday, Feb. 20

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Good Reads

 

Good Films

Charlotte Forten's Mission	Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later	The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975	Selected: One Dream. One School. One Year	With All Deliberate Speed

Did You Know?

Your library has a wealth of online resources that can help enrich your understanding of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights movement and even your own personal history. It all can be found in our databases. 

	You can search your family and local history through Heritage Quest.	Heritage Quest
	You can read articles from four historic black newspapers: Atlanta Daily World The Baltimore Afro-American Chicago Defender New York Amsterdam News Information dates back to the late 1800s.	Historic Black Newspapers
	The Oxford African American Studies Center contains over 5,000 biographies; more than 7,500 articles and hundreds of maps; documents; images; timelines; websites and charts and tables of African-American life; history and culture.	Oxford African American Studies Center
	The African American Experience contains 500 full-text reference and scholarly articles and over 4,000 slave narratives. Includes primary documents, maps and images, lesson plans, searchable timelines and Web links.	African American Experience
	Access primary sources related to the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Congress: Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories  Fight For Racial Justice And The Civil Rights Congress Federal Surveillance of African Americans 1920-1984	Gale Primary Sources
	The African American Music Reference contains over 3000 essays and images on blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel and other forms of African American musical expression.	African American Music Reference

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