Special Feature
Black History Month Honors Legacy of Struggle and Triumph
Each February, Black History Month honors the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles — slavery, prejudice, poverty — as well as their contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life.
In 2009, the inauguration of Barack Obama, America’s first African-American president, lends Black History Month a special significance. Obama took the oath of office January 20, the day after Americans honored the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday and national day of service. The late civil rights leader would have turned 80 on January 15.
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Barack Obama Becomes 44th President of the United States
Shortly after noon EST (1700 GMT) January 20, Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office, becoming the 44th president and first African-American leader of the United States.
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Americans Celebrate Achievements of Martin Luther King Jr.
Americans on each third Monday of January honor the life and achievements of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., (19291968), the 1964 Nobel Peace laureate and the individual most associated with the triumphs of the African-American civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s.
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Supreme Court Justice Marshall
By 1961, Thurgood Marshall had contributed as much as any American to the legal defeat of segregation. Thanks to Marshall's efforts, activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have the law and the millions of Americans who respect the law on their side. By setting the law firmly against public segregation, Marshall and his colleagues contributed to a climate in which laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would outlaw many forms of private discrimination.
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Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History
One of the most inspiring and instructive stories in black history is the story of how Carter G. Woodson, the father of black history, saved himself for the history he saved and transformed.
Publications
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Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States
Barack Obama, elected the 44th President of the United States, has lived a truly American life, and has opened a new chapter in American politics.
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Free At Last - The U.S. Civil Rights Movement
This book recounts how African-American slaves and their descendants struggled to win — both in law and in practice — the civil rights enjoyed by other Americans.
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The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the great American heroes of the 20th century: He was the attorney who ended legal segregation in the United States with his victory in the Brown v. Board of Education case, and the U.S. Supreme Court justice who championed expanded rights for every individual American -- minorities, women, and immigrants, among many others.