Carter G. Woodson was a passionate man and devoted historian who felt that his race was misrepresented in the pages of history. Instead of letting that injustice stand, he decided to do something about it, and the month of February hasn’t been the same since.

Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in Chicago in 1915. In 1926, the association chose a week in February to celebrate Negro History Week. Since its was extended to a month in 1976, the United States and the city of Chicago have embraced the monthlong

celebration of black history and heritage through various programs and events

held around the city.

“The month of February was selected because Woodson wanted to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln,” said Leland Elder, a public relations and marketing representative for the Chicago Public Library. “In 1976, that Negro History Week celebration became Black History Month, and we’ve been celebrating it for the entire month since 1976.”

Elder explained that Black History Month has stayed true to the goals Woodson had in mind when it began.

“He wanted people to recognize the contributions that African-Americans made to America in the areas of literature, humanities, art,

science and everything else,” Elder said of Woodson.

The South Shore Opera Company of Chicago will hold its second Black History Month concert free of charge at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive, on Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. This year’s “Annual Salute to Black History” will feature four local performers and focus on music by

African-American composers.

“Last year’s show was mostly opera,” said South Shore Opera Company founder and executive director, Marvin Lynn. “It featured

one artist … Elizabeth Norman, and [her] friends. And the music that was performed was not music written by black composers. It was a variety of selections of opera.”

Last year’s show was the company’s inaugural performance. This year’s show, on the other hand, will focus mainly on music by African-

American composers and renditions of classic African-American spirituals, Lynn said. He said the focus on spirituals is enhanced through the participation of baritone singer Robert Sims.

“He is known across the country for his interpretations of Negro spirituals,” Lynn said. “He has done several television programs on PBS and so on, and he’s been noted for his work in this area.”

The other performers are soprano KimberlyE. Jones, tenor Cornelius Johnson and pianist and composer George E. Cooper. Lynn said the support the opera company received from the community has been overwhelming, and he thinks South Shore residents enjoyed having this kind of cultural event in their neighborhood.

“I think people really appreciate having good music in their community,” Lynn said. “People in the South Shore community enjoy classical music, they enjoy opera and many don’t have an opportunity to get downtown to the Lyric or the Chicago Opera Theater sometimes because of accessibility, but sometimes because of affordability. So we’re glad to be able to provide people with a really nice alternative that’s really in the community, that features a lot of artists that they know and are familiar with, and artists who have a sense of commitment to the community.”

Lynn said the South Shore Opera Company’s goal during Black History Month was to combat some common stereotypes he thinks exist about classical music and

African-American culture.

“I think some people have the notion that black people don’t enjoy or don’t perform classical music,” Lynn said. “I think there’s also this notion that black people who do perform or enjoy classical music are somehow not black or somehow less black than other people. It’s important for us to show people that you can be a classical artist, be an opera singer and still be proud of who you are and still pay tribute to your culture.”

Another local staple of Black History Month at the South Shore Cultural Center is the Chicago Defender’s “Journey to Empowerment” exhibit, which features photographs and articles from the paper’s archives celebrating the history of African-Americans in entertainment and sports.

“It’s a celebration of the richness of the history of African-Americans,” said Adrienne Jones director of Non-Traditional Revenue sales for the Chicago Defender. “The Chicago Defender has carried African-American history for more than 105 years, and this is one way that we get to share it with the community. It is educational, it is enlightening and it’s also inspiring.”

The exhibit is displayed every year for the entirety of February in celebration of Black History Month. It started in February 2007 with a focus on African-Americans in politics and subsequent years have focused on business and entertainment, Jones said. Some African-American icons highlighted in this year’s exhibit on sports and entertainment include Muhammad Ali, Billy Williams, Hank Aaron, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington.

Columbia has also hosted a series of events in honor of Black History Month, including lectures by performing artists like musician Gil Scott-Heron; actress, choreographer, and director Debbie Allen; and legendary radio DJ Herb Kent, said Kimberly Weatherly, director of African-American Cultural Affairs for Columbia.

“It brings to our students a celebration of African-American culture for the students who are African-American and also teaches about our history to the overall society, to the majority of the students,” Weatherly said. “Because it’s all American history. African-American, Asian, Latino, it’s all American history.” She said Columbia’s focus on performing and media legends for its programs this month was beneficial to the student body. “I think the idea that our students can

sometimes perform before and introduce the person, and the idea that there’s always a question-answer period for our students is so much more meaningful for students … who are [going into] the industry.”

Weatherly used director Spike Lee as a hypothetical example of the kind of experience students can take away from these events: “I might like Spike Lee, but a film major’s going to receive something different from meeting Spike Lee, and that person’s questions are going to be different because they’re in film.”

Weatherly said attendance was overwhelming for all of the college’s events.

Several branches of the Chicago Public Library will also host a variety of Black History Month events to educate local communities about the significance of

African-American culture.

Elder said two of the major library events focus on African-American genealogy. On Feb. 27, the Patricia Liddell Researchers—the

Chicago chapter of the African-American

Historical and Genealogical Society—will hold a workshop to teach patrons how to trace their family lineage at the Woodson Regional Library, 9525 S. Halsted St.

“Searching your personal history is certainly a hobby for some people, but for others it’s something they’ve been trying to do,” Elder said.

He said some people had trouble tracing their lineage because of how slavery affected recorded African-American history.

“For African-Americans, there was a disconnect from their lineage [due to ancestors who were brought to America by force],” Elder said. “So for African-Americans to search records to find out who their family is—what their lineage is—is a bit interesting, it’s educational and it’s a little exciting, as well.” Elder thinks Black History Month is important and beneficial to Chicago.

“Well, it helps the Chicago community,” he said. “It shows the diversity in the Chicago community. It helps people learn and understand about African-American history.”Lynn agrees with that sentiment. He said Chicago’s unique cultural environment lends itself particularly well to the celebration

of Black History Month.

“I think Chicago’s one of the few places in the country—and I’ve lived in New York and lots of different places—where you can find some kind of main cultural event happening in the city on any given night of the week, as long as you’re willing to travel across town or wherever it may be,” Lynn said. “There’s always something going on. So Black History Month is no different.”

lwilusz@chroniclemail.com