Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Nowhere is cultural diversity more evident than the United States of America.
With its melting pot history, the United States boasts a cultural climate like no other: a nation rich with traditions from peoples around the world.
Black History Month is set aside to recognize one group's contributions to U.S. history.
The observance began in 1926 through the efforts of historian Carter Woodsman, the first African-American of slave parentage to earn a doctorate in the United States. Woodsman chose the second week of February as Negro History Week because it contained the birthdays of two Americans who had an impact on Black history - Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Woodson, called the father of black history, was anxious to increase knowledge of black history to all Americans. He believed blacks would be seen as an important part of their country if their contributions were known.
Woodson sent literature to schools, colleges, women's associations, newspapers in the black community and state departments of education. Enough people became interested in Woodson's crusade that, by 1930, a celebration in Washington was attended by more than 5,000 people. The recognition of black history evolved into a full-month observance in 1976.
Many area schools are doing their part to promote Black History Month. Some classes are reviewing black history, while others are focusing on contributions of blacks to the American way of life.
Some students will learn the hard way about one of the most troubling aspects of black history - discrimation. Barbara Ingold will spring "Discrimination Day" on her third-graders at Harrison Elementary within the next month or so.
Students never know when Discrimation Day is coming, Ingold said, but when the day arrives, it's obvious. "From the time they walk in the door, they know," she said.
Ingold will have divided her class into two groups based on some arbitrary factor - a letter in their names, eye color, hair color.
Children in the discriminated-against group can't get out of their seats or use the electric pencil sharpener. They have to go last in line. They might raise their hands to answer a question, but Ingold won't see it.
The groups switch roles midway through the day, and when the lesson is over, Ingold and the children discuss what the unfair treatment felt like.
Other activities planned at area schools include:
• Third-graders at Warsaw Christian School planned and led a schoolwide chapel service Friday. The service included "Sound of Great Voices," a reading about Martin Luther King Jr.; a presentation on African-Americans who changed the world with their ideas and inventions; and the singing of spirituals.
• Tippecanoe Valley Middle School students put together a display on black history for the school's media center. Classroom studies included examining the works of black poets and authors.
• A focus on African-American authors is how fifth-grade teachers at Sacred Heart Elementary are promoting awareness of Black History Month. Sixth-graders are assigned historic African-Americans - well-known and not-so-well-known - to research, then they give oral reports to their classrooms.
• Claypool Elementary fourth-graders wrote research papers on famous African-Americans. Hallway bulletin boards include displays on King and on Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave who helped establish the underground railroad.
• Fifth-grade teachers at North Webster Elementary are providing books on African-Americans and black history in their classrooms. Teachers also are leading children in discussion on related issues.
