As written above, I am grateful for these NF picture books telling us readers about the history we did not know before. This time, I'm sharing about the man who sowed the seeds of Black History Month by creating Negro History Week (2nd week of February) in 1926. They chose that week because it encompassed the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, I admit that although I was in school long after that year, I don't remember anyone celebrating that week. It became official in 1976, but the first celebration occurred in 1970 at Kent State. That information and more is in a Wikipedia article here.
Thanks to Deborah Hopkinson and Don Tate for telling this inspiring story in their new picture book. Carter was the second African-American to earn a PhD in history from Harvard University. (The first was W.E.B. DuBois.) He was the first and only Black American whose parents had been slaves to receive a doctorate in history.