BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2026
A Century of Black History Commemorations
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History presents....
The 2026 Black History Month theme, A Century of Black History Commemorations, focuses on Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, George Cleveland Hall, William B. Hartgrove, Jesse E. Moorland, Alexander L. Jackson, and James E. Stamps institutionalizing the teaching, study, dissemination, and commemoration of Black history when they founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) on September 9, 1915. To learn more about the National theme visit their website here.
Calendar of Events
| Event | Date & Time | Location | Host(s) | Link (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLWC: The Legacy of Malcom X with Dr. Adriene Lentz-Smith | Feb. 3rd 5:30-7pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Register Here |
| Wisdom & Wellness | Feb. 4th 12-2pm | Department of Population Health Sciences Classroom A, Imperial Building | Hurtson-James Society | Register Here |
| Jazz @ | Feb. 4th 9-11pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | DUU | N/A |
| First Friday | Feb. 6th 11-1pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture & Center for Multicultural Affairs | Register Here |
| Superbowl Watch Party (NO x QZ) | Feb. 8th 5-10pm | Hollows B 3rd Floor Common Room | Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. | Register Here |
| Cook Awards Dinner | Feb. 9th 5-7pm | Invitation Only | N/A | |
| African American Read-In | Feb. 10th 11am-1pm | Perk Café Patio (next to the Saladelia Cafe in Perkins Library) | Thompson Writing Program and Duke University Libraries | Register Here |
| Unmasked. Unbothered. Unapologetic. | Feb. 11th 5-7pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Register Here |
| Brother's Gathering | Feb. 10th 6-8pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Register Here |
| Black Mental Health & Wellness | Feb. 12th 6-7pm | Wellness Center (RM 144) | NAACP | N/A |
| Protect Your Crown: A Natural Hair Event | Feb. 16th 4:30-6pm | Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (CSDG - BC 100) | Edens Quad | Register Here |
| Black History Month Lecture with Ilyasah Shabazz | Feb. 17th 6-9pm | Penn Pavilion | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Register Here |
| Speed Friending | Feb. 19th 6-8pm | Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity | BLQ | N/A |
| Changing Roles of Black Women in Politics | Feb. 19th 6-7:30pm | TBD | Lillian's List | N/A |
| Black Excellence Game: Women's Basketball Game | Feb. 19th 7pm | Cameron Indoor Stadium | Women's Basketball Team and Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Purchase Tickets Here |
| Black Policy Conference | Feb. 19th- Feb. 21st | Sanford School of Public Policy | Black Policy Student Association | N/A |
| LQZ Wild N Owt | Feb. 21st 7pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. | Register Here |
| Sweet TreatZ and Affirmations | Feb. 23rd 1-4pm | Tabling at West Bus Stop | Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. | N/A |
| Many Roots: Four Year Threads | Feb. 24th 5-6:30pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture | Register Here |
| Black History Month Dinner | Feb. 25th 5-9pm | Marketplace: East Campus Wall Center | Duke Dining Services | N/A |
| Blood Drive | Feb. 26th 11am-5pm | Wellness Center | NAACP | N/A |
| Know Your Rights As a Duke Student: Dixon v. Alabama | Feb. 26th 11am-1pm | Wellness Center Rm 147 | Dean of Students | N/A |
| Grad Pro Series: Game Night | Feb. 26th 6-8pm | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, Black Seminarian Union, & BGPSA | Register Here |
| Advocacy 101 | Feb. 26th 6-8pm | Keohane Atrium | Black Student Alliance | N/A |
| NSBE x Mitchell White House BHM Movie Night | Feb. 27th 7pm | Keohane Atrium | Duke NSBE & Mitchell White House | Register Here |
| BHM SpeakeaZy | Feb. 27th 9pm-12am | MLWC Programming Space - Lower Level | Jazz@, Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, & Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. | N/A |
Most of the events listed will be able to be found on DukeGroups! Some of these events may also have a "Black History Month" tag on the platform. For more on Black History Month, email marylou@duke.edu.
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Black History Month is a celebration of all aspects of Black culture and the diaspora during the month of February. Originally founded as Negro History Week in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson and his organization the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), the second week of February was chosen because of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The celebration was later expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. A theme is chosen every year by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History as a guiding principle for the month's celebrations. The theme for 2024 is African Americans and the Arts. The Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture centralizes the efforts of student Black affinity organizations during the month of February for celebrating the history and culture of Black people in America. Throughout the month, discussions will be held addressing relevant issues of the day.
- Submitted resources
- Qwest TV EDU- a video streaming channel created by Quincy Jones and showcasing Black music and global sounds. Features a wide range of musical genres and styles, including jazz, the blues, soul, funk, world music, electronic music, classical music, and much more.
- HistoryMakers Digital Archive View- features oral history video interviews with thousands of historically significant African Americans. Discover Black painters, musicians, actors, dancers, playwrights, filmmakers, sculptors, and others in the arts.
- The Nasher Museum presents 'María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold,' a monographic exhibition of a visionary voice in photography, immersive installation, painting and performance. The first multimedia survey of the artist’s work since 2007, 'Behold' highlights the artist’s dedication to creating new modes of understanding, as well as her engagement with interconnected historical and present-day challenges. These themes are examined through Campos-Pons’s performance-based practice and centering of Yoruba-derived Santería symbolism, as well as her work with communities in Boston, Cuba, Italy and Nashville (her current residence). The exhibition will be on view, February 15 – June 09, 2024.
- Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture
- Black Student Affinity Space
- The Center for Multicultural Affairs & the Identity and Cultural Centers
- Duke Black Alumni (DBA)
- 100 Collegiate Black Men/ @duke100bm
- Black Law Student Association/ @dukelawblsa
- Black Pre-Law Society/ @dukepbls
- Black Student Alliance/ @dukebsa
- Black Women's Union/ @duke_bwu
- Duke Africa/ @duke.africa
- Duke Ethiopian/Eritrean Student Transnational Association(DESTA)/ @dukedesta
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP)/ @dukenaacp
- Minority Association of Premedical Students/ @dukemaps
- Nakisai African Dance Ensemble/ @dukenakisaiade
- National PanHellenic Council(NPHC)/ @dukenphc
- National Society of Black Engineers(NSBE)/ @dukensbe
- Students of the Caribbean Association(SOCA)/ @dukesoca
- United Black Athletes/ @duke.uba
- United in Praise/ @duke_unitedinpraise
The organizations listed here aren't the only Black diasporic-identified/affiliated organizations! Find these organizations on Duke Groups or Instagram! Want your organization to be added to this list or need to make an edit? Please email mikala.king@duke.edu .
- Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture
- Center for Multicultural Affairs
Plaza Banner Facts
Source: Duke Chronicle article from January 21, 2022
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Durham’s Black Wall Street housed a vibrant and successful variety of Black-owned businesses. A set of four blocks on Parrish Street, Black Wall Street served as a hub for Black Americans and was a thriving commercial area with tailors, barbers, drugstores and more. It put Durham on the map as the capital of the Black middle class in America, and the Bull City became nationally renowned for fostering Black entrepreneurship.
“Durham was known as the ‘mecca of the Black South’ because so much attention was paid to Durham’s economy,” said Paul Scott, founder of the Durham-based Black Messiah Movement and an activist who has worked to raise awareness about Black history in Durham.
Black Wall Street flourished during the Reconstruction era, at a time of racial tension and systematic discrimination against Black Americans.
The success of Black Wall Street was fueled by the efforts of two businesses that remain today: NC Mutual Life Insurance Company and Mechanics & Farmers Bank.
Today, NC Mutual Life Insurance Company is the largest Black-owned insurance business in the world. M&F Bank is the second oldest minority-owned bank in the United States and was also the first Black-owned bank in Durham.
Dr. Samuel Cook - First Black tenured faculty member joined Duke in 1966
Cook is Duke’s first black tenured professor, joining the faculty in 1966, three years after the university’s student body desegregated. He is also the first African American to hold a regular faculty appointment at any predominantly white college or university in the South. A graduate of Morehouse College, he was classmates with Martin Luther King, Jr. He later became the president of Dillard University, a historically black university in New Orleans. Now retired, Duke honors his legacy annually with an awards banquet.
BSA, Black Student Alliance was established in 1967 and promotes academic achievement and intellectual pursuit, cultivates dynamic leadership, and strives to eliminate social barriers for all.
Learn more about BSA
Source: Duke Libraries
On February 13, 1969, between 50 and 75 Duke University students (many of whom were members of the Afro-American Society) occupied the Allen Building (Duke's main administration building) to bring attention to the needs of African-American students. These needs included an African-American studies department, a black student union, protection from police harassment, and increased enrollment and financial support for black students.
The students remained barricaded in the Allen Building for most of the day, leaving sometime after 5:00 PM after an ultimatum from the Duke administration. Although their exit was peaceful, a large crowd of mostly white students had gathered outside the building during the day, and this crowd and the police became entangled. The police fired tear gas on the students, prompting further campus protests.
In March, after discussions between the Afro-American Society and the administration over the development of the African-American Studies program ended in disagreement, Duke students and their supporters marched in downtown Durham. Dozens of Duke's African-American students threatened to leave campus to attend the Malcolm X Liberation University, a newly-developed school led by community activist Howard Fuller. On March 19, 1969, a University Hearing Committee found the students who had occupied the Allen Building guilty of violating university regulations. All defendants were sentenced to one year of probation.
This powerful demonstration became known as the Allen Building Takeover.
Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke becomes the first Black woman to have a campus building named after her on September 24, 2020.