“An American Milestone: The Centennial of Negro History Week/Black History Month, 1926-2026”
Beginning October 2025 and through 2026
Co-sponsored by Marshall Health Network and the City of Huntington
Contests
Other Events
- Free short online Black History courses in October 2025 and February 2026. You may register now for the October courses and later this fall for the Spring selections. Visit: https://www.marshall.edu/centennial/centennial-courses/
- “An American Milestone Symposium, March 5-7, 2026, on the campuses of Marshall University and West Virginia State University, will be free and open to the public. Details about the various presentations at the Symposium will be available in January at
https://www.marshall.edu/woodsonlyceum/symposium/.
Members of the Centennial of Negro History Week/Black History Month Committee
Dr. Ericke Cage, President, West Virginia State University
Ms. Adrienne Cannon, Library of Congress
Dr. Cicero Fain, Assistant Provost, Inclusive Excellence
The Honorable Patrick Farrell, Mayor, Huntington, West Virginia
Mr. Tim Hardesty, Superintendent, Cabell County Schools
Mr. David Harris, Branch President, Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Huntington Branch
Professor Burnis Morris, Director, The Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum, Committee Co-Chair
Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Professor, Norfolk State University
Mr. Scott Raynes, President, Marshall Health Network
Mr. Brad D. Smith, President, Marshall University, Committee Co-Chair
Ms. Jill Upson, former Executive Director, Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, West Virginia
Dr. Eric Waggoner, Executive Director, West Virginia Humanities Council
Dr. Kaye Whitehead, National President, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Emeritus Members
The Honorable Steve Williams, former Mayor of Huntington, West Virginia
Dr. Kevin Yingling, former President, Marshall Health Network
Subcommittee Chairs
Symposium – Dr. Montserrat Miller, Executive Director, John Deaver Drinko Academy
Online courses program – Dr. Julia Spears, Assistant Provost
Background
Learning History Through Essays and Posters
Marshall University and its co-sponsors – the City of Huntington and Marshall Health Network – previously announced the Centennial initiative in April 2024 to honor rediscovery of many remarkable achievements that were too often ignored. The contributions of African Americans might have been lost forever without the work of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a former Huntington educator, who was also a former West Virginia coal miner.
The Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum, which was created as a forum for improving the community’s ties to Dr. Woodson, education and freedom of the press, has been sponsoring poster and essay competitions to celebrate Black History Month since its beginning in 2016. For the Centennial, it promises even bigger competitions and other major celebrations in recognition of outstanding achievements in Black History. Essay and poster competitions enhance student learning.
Dr. Woodson created Negro History Week in 1926 and is considered the Father of Black History. He received his high school diploma from Frederick Douglass High School in Huntington, West Virginia, in 1896, and returned four years later as principal. He served as dean of West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University). A statue of Dr. Woodson is located at 820 Hall Greer Blvd., in Huntington. (About Dr. Woodson: The Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum)
Before Dr. Woodson, Black History was not a discipline, and Black achievements were underappreciated. However, Dr. Woodson enlightened Americans about missing parts of their history and challenged celebrants to use the occasion to learn more about the missing stories and images. His research and commentary inspired students, writers, artists and leading thinkers over several generations.
Students preparing essays and posters for the competitions may use Centennial to recapture some of the history and understand the significance of this milestone. Students may want to review or focus on aspects of Dr. Woodson’s life, important contributions of Black people to the American story and their impact across various professions and services. The jurors who will decide the contest winners are particularly interested in what has happened during the past century and the role or roles played by Black Americans. Students may approach the Centennial theme narrowly or broadly.
Resources
Please feel free to use the following resources in conducting your research about Negro History Week/Black History Month.
Executive Summary: Centennial Theme
The association Dr. Woodson founded in 1915 – Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History – sets the annual national Black History themes.
https://asalh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2026-Black-History-Theme-Executive-Summary.pdf
Morris, Burnis, “Carter G. Woodson: The Early Years, 1875-1903.”
https://asalh.org/about-us/carter-g-woodson-the-early-years-1875-1903/
Morris, Burnis, “Carter G. Woodson: A Century of Making Black Lives Matter.” In Radical Roots: Public History and a Tradition of Social Justice Activism, edited by Denise D. Meringolo, 219–46. Amherst College Press, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.12366495.12.
Woodson, Carter, “Negro History Week.”
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2714171?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3Af2c0c92bc1e12a086bcf7dbef4fe44fb&initiator=recommender&seq=1
Generative AI Use Policy
Generative AI has many costs and benefits. You may not use generative AI in any way that would violate the Marshall University Student Code of Conduct (URL: https://www.marshall.edu/student-conduct/).
Generative AI use in this competition should be considered just like any other personal communication or secondary source of information that needs to be critiqued, cross-referenced with primary sources of information, and properly cited. For information on citing AI, please see MU Library’s citation website (URL: https://libguides.marshall.edu/plagiarism-AI/cite).
Please review Generative AI – Generative AI at Marshall University (URL: https://www.marshall.edu/ai/) for more information and training related to Generative AI at Marshall University.