Office of the Mayor proclaim February 2018 as Black History Month and that the entire City Council go on record encouraging Cantabrigians to take time to learn more about the contributions and sacrifices made by African Americans in Cambridge and throughout the United States

ORIGINAL ORDER

The origins of Black History Month date back to September 1915, when Carter G. Woodson, who was receiving his PhD from Harvard, and Minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), charged with researching and publicizing achievements of black Americans; and In 1926, the ASNLH, now known as the Association for the Study of African

American Life and History (ASALH), sponsored National Negro History week during

the second week of February, coinciding with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, to promote school and community events celebrating the contributions of black men and women to our history; and In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially declared February as Black History Month; and The contributions of black men and women far too often go untaught and unacknowledged in our schools and communities; and Cambridge is home to one of the oldest African American communities in the nation, and has been home to groundbreaking leaders and history makers such as Maria Louise Baldwin, a Cambridge born activist and educator who was the first African American principal of a public school in the Northeast; Joshua Bowen Smith, an abolitionist and

State Representative who commissioned the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial depicting

the 54th Massachusetts Regiment of the Civil War, the first African American Regiment in the Army; and Clement G. Morgan, who in 1896 was the first African American elected to the Cambridge Board of Alderman; and In more modern times, City leaders such as three-time Cambridge Mayor Kenneth Reeves, the first openly gay, African American Mayor in the United States, and two- time Cambridge Mayor E.

Denise Simmons, the first openly lesbian, African American Mayor in the United States have served and led our community with distinction; and The national theme for Black History Month in 2018 is “African Americans in Times of War,” we are encouraged to think about all the African American men and women who served in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars; as well as Cambridge’s Clifton Merriman, who served in France during World War I, and who eventually became the first African American to serve as Assistant Postmaster in Cambridge, for whom the

Central Square Post Office is now named; Marvin Gilmore, who served in World War

II; Red Mitchel, who served in World War II; Moses Moore, who served in Korea; and Kenneth Headly, who served in Vietnam; now therefore be it

That the Office of the Mayor officially proclaims February 2018 as Black History

Month and that the entire City Council goes on record encouraging Cantabrigians to take time to learn more about the contributions and sacrifices made by African Americans in Cambridge and throughout the United States to our collective history, from politics to education, from business to activism and in the arts, and in so many other areas; and further be it That Cambridge residents are encouraged to celebrate and appreciate African American history not just during the month of February, but throughout the year; and be it further That Cambridge residents are encouraged to attend at least one of the many events occurring throughout this month.