February Is Black History Month

Join us in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans beginning with today's feature on Elizabeth Catlett.

"Artists should work to the end that love, peace, justice, and equal opportunity prevail all over the world; to the end that all people take joy in full participation in the rich material, intellectual, and spiritual resources of this world's lands, peoples, and goods."

—Elizabeth Catlett, 1984

Celebrate throughout the month, with Black History features on February 12, February 16, and February 23. This celebration grew out of Negro History Week, which was established in February 1926. Two figures who had a profound impact on black history—Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln—have birthdays in February, so it was the perfect time to remember the achievements of black Americans.

Source: National Museum of American Art. (Washington, D.C. and Boston, New York, Toronto and London: National Museum of American Art with Bulfinch Press, Little Brown and Company, 1995).

Pictured: Elizabeth Catlett, born 1919, Singing Head,1980, black Mexican marble, 16 x 9 1/2 x 12 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.