February-- Black History Month--A Great Subject to Read About This or Any Month!

Reading is a means of thinking with another person’s mind; it forces you to stretch your own.
Charles Scribner Jr

Bartelby.com
Bartleby is a wonderful site for readers and book lovers. Be sure and check it out.

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Adult Writer's Workshop Continues

The adult writers’ workshop every Friday at 1:00 p.m. in the library annex continues. The class is facilitated by Dr. Erin O’Neill, who is a teacher at NMSU-C. Everyone’s welcome, and there is no cost. It’s a great place to get some feedback on your writing, network with other writers, and learn how to prepare a manuscript for submission. There is also a bookcart available near the front entrance of the library which contains a selection of books geared toward helping writers with all aspects of creative writing. All these volumes are available for checkout.

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February is Black History Month

Some background from Infoplease.com--

"Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month." What you might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied-or even documented-when the tradition originated. Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books.

Blacks Absent from History Books

We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population-and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time

Established Journal of Negro History

Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history.

Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. However, February has much more than Douglass and Lincoln to show for its significance in black American history." (article goes on to with links to other key Afro-American people and events)

The History of Black History at Infoplease

African-American History Timeline at Infoplease


Famous Firsts by African-Americans at Infoplease


Notable African-American Literary Figures at Infoplease

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The best way to find "quick information" about African-American history or literature or authors or biographies or "any subject" existing is to go to your favorite search engine on the Internet. If you don't have a favorite search engine, here, try one of the following:

http://yahoo.com


http://google.com


http://refdesk.com


http://lycos.com


http://ask.com


http://answers.com

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Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.Langston Hughes, African-American Poet


Happy Reading


Copyright © Bob Hoff, 2007