Celebrating Black History With a School Assembly Program

Today is December 19, and it is remarkable for several reasons. On this day in 1154, King Henry II was crowned in England. You remember him, right, and all that nasty business over Sir Thomas Beckett and the Church and all? Ah, but Peter O'Toole made a a wonderful Henry, both in Becket and in The Lion in Winter!

In 1777, George Washington and the rest of the Continental Army settled down for a rotten winter at a place called Valley Forge. Rolls Royce sold it’s last Silver Ghost on this day in 1924, and in 1941 Hitler got tired of his generals and took over the German army himself (a lot of good that did him!). Oh, and we should not forget that on December 19, 1998, President William Jefferson Clinton was impeached.

But we must especially not forget one other important thing that happened on December 19, in the year 1875. On that day, and in that year, in a town called New Canton, in the state of Virginia, an ex slave named James Woodson, and his wife, Eliza Riddle Woodson, also a former slave, welcomed into this world a fellow they named Carter Godwin Woodson. Ever heard of him? Well you should have!

Carter G. Woodson, struggled against many long odds to obtain an education and then went on to spend his life educating others. He eventually obtained a doctorate and, in his life, taught at High Schools and Colleges and Universities. But he did something else. He spent his life researching the often forgotten contributions and successes of African Americans. And he began the idea of a national week, to celebrate these accomplishments, and which would take place in February near to the birthdays of both President Abraham Lincoln and that of Frederick Douglass. This week grew into a month and is now known nationally and celebrated as Black History Month.

The work done by Mr. Woodson lives on today in schools throughout the country that take the month of February to explore the many and varied accomplishments of African Americans.

And February is a perfect time to celebrate those contributions and, indeed the life of Mr. Woodson by marking the occasion with an event at your school. An event such as our Martin Luther King school assembly or our school show about the life of Frederick Douglass is perfect. The Spirit to Overcome, about the lives of famous and not so famous women of color is also a great avenue to explore. Regardless of the title or topic, there is no better way for your school to mark the achievements of African Americans than by bringing to life one of the greatest that ever lived.

Make Mr. Woodson proud and give us a call today! Chances are we may already be coming to your neighborhood in February, so grab a date for your school today!

Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN