Week One – February 7: Black History/American History

Choose one question to answer:

• Why is it important to celebrate Black History Month?
• How has Black History contributed to American history?

In honor of Black History Month, the Wellesley Free Library will host a community wide writing contest during the month of February. WFL wishes to engage the entire community, therefore the contest is open to patrons of all ages, PreK children through adults. Each participant will receive a prize and the final winners for each age group will receive an additional award. All winners will be notified by mid-March followed by a public announcement.

Black History Month originally began as Negro History Week in 1926 by the Historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson as a mechanism for bringing to the forefront the accomplishments of people of the African diaspora living in the United States. The month of February was selected because the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglas (February 14), two men of great significance celebrated within the Black community, fell in the month of February. Recognizing the importance of the Black experience to America’s rich cultural heritage slowly caught on as college and university students began to celebrate and eventually teaching began to occur. The first Black History Month celebration took place at Kent State University in 1970 and President Gerald Ford enacted the first national Black History Month in 1976 “to honor the accomplishments of Black Americans.”  

Grades 9 – 12 & Adult

On each Monday of the month - February 7, 14, 21 and 28 – the Library will post questions on the WFL’s program calendar (wellesleyfreelibrary.libcal.com), weekly newsletter and social media outlets from one of four distinct categories:

• Black History/American History
• Influential Black Americans
• Democracy
• Reconciliation, Diversity and Progress.  

Contestants will select a question of their choice from the specified weekly category and enter only one answer, in essay form of 750 words or less, for each week. Contestants are eligible to enter up to one essay per week, for a total of 4 essays.

Submission directions:

• Email Jen at jrixon@wellesleyma.gov
• Required subject line: Black History Month Submission
• Body of the email should include: essay title, full name, grade/adult
• Attach essay to the email as a Word or PDF file.  
• Submissions are accepted any day between February 7 and March 4 at 5:00 PM.