Black History Month 2026: A Century of Black Commemorations

This year, we mark 100 years since Dr. Carter G. Woodson's first call to remembrance when he established Negro History Week—a century of expanding the work Dr. Woodson began and of reaffirming that Black history is foundational to American history. What started as a single week of recognition has become Black History Month, yet its purpose remains unchanged: to claim space for truth in a country that too often denies it.

In 2026, we reflect on the ways Black people have memorialized and reimagined these collective histories: through scholarship and storytelling, through the arts and activism, through ritual, healing, and community-building. We seek offerings that illuminate the unbroken line between Black ancestors’ labor and the world we inhabit today—a world built, in countless visible and invisible ways, by Black hands, hearts, and brilliance.        

See the full calendar of events at stamp.umd.edu/BHM