Celebrating Black History Month in Las Vegas

February is Black History Month, which “shouldn't be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history,” said President Barack Obama in 2016. “It's about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America.”

✍️ Recognition of Black History Month

Black History Month started in 1915 — half a century after slavery was abolished — when scholar Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He urged other Black scholars and civic organizations to promote their community’s achievements, and out of that motivation the Association sponsored Negro History Week in the second week of February 1926.

By the late 1960s, Woodson’s concept had expanded into Black History Month, officially recognized by President Gerald R. Ford during the 1976 bicentennial.

🗓️ Why February?

Woodson, the “father of Black history,” chose February to coincide with the birthdays of former slave and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass (believed to be Feb. 14) and President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12), who issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Woodson also chose this week out of tradition, as Black communities had already been honoring these two birthdays during the second week of the month.

💯 This Year’s Theme

The 2026 theme is “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” recognizing the progress made in recording, studying, and honoring the history and influence of Black Americans since 1926.

🎉 How to Celebrate in Las Vegas

City Cast Las Vegas looks back on the underreported history of Black cowboys in Nevada and how they helped shape the Las Vegas we know today. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]