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Federal Government Sites

2009 White House Proclamation on African American History Month

White House Initative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities

New! Information Center from USAJobs
Learn more about the hiring process, career exploration, & USAJobs orientation; read FAQs.

U.S. Census Press Release, Facts for Feature-African-American History Month: February 2009

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Black History Month Web Site - highlights contributions made by the agency's African-American meteorologists, oceanographers, engineers and other employees.

Library of Congress - African American Mosaic Online Exhibit - African American culture and history

Library of Congress - The African American Odyssey Online Exhibit - A quest for full citizenship.

The National Park Service's Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement.

Smithsonian Institution Black History Month web page

Call to Serve -- a joint initiative sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, providing information on careers in the federal government. Search the directory of federal internships and information with a network of over 600 colleges.   In addition, you'll find information about multiple vacancies in the federal sector, subdivided by jobs that require language skills, loan repayment programs, etc. 

• Blacks in Government (BIG)
• National Association for Education Opportunity in Higher Education
• PBS African American World Reference Room
• African American Museums
• Association of African American Museums
• Association for the Study of African American Life and History
• AFRO-American Almanac - includes biographies and historical information.
• Black History Hotlist
• Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History
• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project - Stanford University's collection of papers, speeches, sermons and articles by and about the civil rights leader.
• The Shaw Memorial
• University of Chicago African-American Studies Archive
• National Public Radio Black History Month page
• EverythingBlack.com
• The Internet African-American History Challenge - a quiz from Bright Moments.com
• InfoPlease.com Black History Month site.
• About.com African-American History site
• The Internet African-American History Challenge - an interactive quizz
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library.
• Blacks in Government (BIG)
• The Anacostia Musuem and Center for African American History and Culture - A branch of the Smithsonian Insitution
• Harlem 1900-1940 - An online exhibition of photographs from the era of the Harlem Renaissance.
• National Museum of African Art
• National Civil Rights Museum
• Selected African American Artists at the National Gallery
• Smithosonian Institution African-American History and Culture web page
• The New York Public Library's Images of African Americans from the 19th Century.
• The History Channel has extensive biographies of historical African Americans.

Black Employment Program

National African American History Month 2009

Theme:  Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

10:00-11:00 a.m.

Auditorium, U.S. Department of Commerce

The Federal Triangle Partnership, consisting of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is pleased to announce its program commemorating 2009 National Black History Month, which is celebrated annually in the month of February. The 2009 national theme is "Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas."

This year's program will be held on Wednesday, February 18, 2009, from 10:00 - 11:00 AM, in the auditorium at the U.S. Department of Commerce, located at 1401 Constitution Ave., N.W. (Federal Triangle Metro on the blue/orange lines). Seating for this event is on a first come, first serve basis.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President of Bennett College for Women, economist, author, and commentator. Dr. Malveaux's contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts, are shaping public opinion in 21st century America. Her weekly columns appear in numerous newspapers across the country including the New York Times, Charlotte Observer, New Orleans Tribune, Detroit Free Press, and the San Francisco Examiner. She is well known for her appearances on national network programs such as CNN, BET, Evening Exchange, To the Contrary (PBS), Politically Incorrect (ABC), and the O'Reilly Factor (Fox).

In addition, there will be a performance by the Madison Glorious Sounds Brass Band. The Band has performed throughout the Washington Metro area at a variety of local festivals and events. Mr. Charles Stallworth, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will serve as the emcee for the program. A limited number of the 2009 Black History Month poster prints will be available to attendees at the program.

This program is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to (202) 482-4481 or TTY (202) 482-2030 as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made. If you have any questions about this program, please contact Senora Coggs, OCR, at (202) 482-8190 or scoggs@doc.gov.

A century ago, an interracial group of Americans joined together and formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  Two generations after emancipation, a tide of racism had betrayed the promise of first-class citizenship.  In the South, whites had stripped blacks of the right to vote and constructed a society based on racial segregation.  In the North, African Americans confronted myriad forms of discrimination that thwarted their aspirations.  The Supreme Court turned a blind eye to the denigration of American citizenship taking place across the land and in the government itself.
 
The story of the NAACP is the story of struggle to create and maintain equal citizenship for all Americans.  Through exposing the horrors of lynching, keeping the issue of equality before the courts, and organizing branches throughout the country, the NAACP drew a national following and inspired others to form organizations for racial change.  The NAACP's work gave hope not only to blacks in the North, but to men and women in the South like Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers.
  
The centennial of the NAACP is an occasion to highlight the problem of race and citizenship in American history, from experiences of free blacks in a land of slavery to the political aspirations of African Americans today.  The centennial also provides an opportunity to explore the history of other nations in the Americas, where former slaves also sought the fruits of citizenship. Source:  http://www.asalh.org/2009NationalBlackHistoryTheme.html

More about National African American History Month

Each February is designated as African American History Month or Black History Month in the United States to commemorate the rich and varied contributions of African Americans to the culture and history of the United States and the world.

In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard Ph.D. who 11 years earlier had founded the Association for the Study of Afro- American Life and History, initiated Negro History Week. In those early days, the words Afro and Black were seldom used. It was Dr. Woodson's hope that through this special observance, all Americans would be reminded of their ethnic roots, and that togetherness in the United States' racial groups would develop out of a mutual respect. Dr. Woodson chose for Negro History Week the period of February which contains the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. From its initiation, observance of Afro-American History Month has involved many ethnic groups, not only Black Americans. This event evolved into the establishment in 1976 of February as "Black History Month." This commemoration is also referred to as "African American History Month."