Homeschool Studies for Black History Month
Celebrate Black History month by incorporating these ideas into your homeschool lessons on African-American influence. Check out these resources you can apply across your curriculum, including science and invention, music and arts, sports and entertainment, literature and poetry, and field trips.
Black History Month Ideas
This blog post from Homeschooling Help offers some excellent subjects for character studies and Black History Month ideas to incorporate into a variety of subjects.
Time 4 Learning shares ideas for activities and field trips for all ages.
This Jeopardy-style quiz game can be played by one or two players.
Science & Invention
This article from How Stuff Works details the work of ten Black scientists, from well-known George Washington Carver and James West to some others you may not have heard of.
Students can research any or all of the people on this list of over twenty African American inventors and the patent numbers assigned to their unique inventions.
Music & Arts
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant collections of African American art in the world, boasting more than two thousand works by more than two hundred African American artists. Visit the museum in D.C., or browse the online gallery if the trip is a bit too far.
Explore this list of photographers, painters, and sculptors on Biography.
Sports & Entertainment
Explore the biographies of ten African American “firsts” in the sports world, including Wilma Rudolph, Gabby Douglas, Arthur Ashe, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and many more.
In an arena largely dominated by men, these black female athletes have left their indelible marks on sports history.
From early entertainers like Hattie McDaniel, Dorothy Dandridge, and Sidney Poitier to modern groundbreakers like Oprah Winfrey, Quvenzhane Wallis, and Jordan Peele, African American actors, directors, writers, and more have influenced the entertainment industry’s narrative, style, history, and aesthetics. Go back to the earliest days of cinema with these nine Black filmmaking pioneers.
Literature & Poetry
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (parental discretion advised) – This 1969 autobiography of American writer and poet Maya Angelou illustrates the triumph of passion and a strong character over racism and trauma.
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass – This second of three autobiographies published by Frederick Douglass expands on the details of his transition from life as a slave to liberty.
Rosa Parks: My Story – by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins – Explore how much more there is to Rosa Park’s story than her well-known act of defiance on a segregated bus in her simple, inspiring narrative.
The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt – This remarkable story about the power of friendship is based on the lives of three young men growing up on the streets of Newark who promise to help each other beat the odds and the temptations of city life and become doctors. You can find study questions and essay topics about this book and its themes here.
The Annotated African American Folktales by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Maria Tatar – This beautiful anthology reclaims stories passed down through generations of enslaved African Americans.
“For My People” by Margaret Walker
“Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
“I, Too” by Langston Hughes
“Miz Rosa Rides the Bus” by Angela Jackson
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson
“Booker T. and W.E.B.” by Dudley Randall
“Frederick Douglass” by Robert Hayden
“On Liberty and Slavery” by George Moses Horton
Resources and Research Ideas
Heroes in Black History: True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes by Dave and Netta Jackson
Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos
Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives
100 African Americans Who Shaped American History by Chrisanne Beckner
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks
Inspirational Americans
Learn the stories of these less well-known notable figures and use them as inspiration for lessons in which students can write reports, illustrate stories, create life timelines, and more.
Carter G. Woodson – African American author and historian known as the “Father of Black History.”
Benjamin Banneker – Self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs, and writer who built the first striking clock in the United States (Learn more about Benjamin Banneker and clock-building in this Homeschool Living.)
Another book about Benjamin Banneker on the elementary reading level is What Are You Figuring Now?: A Story About Benjamin Banneker by Jeri Ferris.
James Armistead – Revolutionary War-era spy for the American forces.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler – First African American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree.
Maggie Walker – First female bank president of any race to charter a bank in the United States.
Dr. Philip Emeagwali – Noted inventor who used his observations of bees and their honeycomb structure to build the world’s fastest computer in 1989.
Eunice Hunton Carter – One of New York’s first black female lawyers and one of the first black prosecutors in the United States.
Elijah McCoy – Early African-American inventor who used his work experience to develop an automatic engine lubricating device.
Dorothy Height – Virginia-born civil rights and women’s rights activist.
Shirley Chisholm – First African American congresswoman and first major-party black candidate to make a bid for presidency.
Robert Smalls – Enslaved man who gained his freedom after the Civil War and became ship’s pilot, sea captain, and politician.
Mae Jemison – First African American female astronaut and first black woman in space.
Field Trips
Black History Museum – Alexandria
Booker T. Washington National Monument – Hardy
Historic Hopewell Foundation – Hopewell
The Legacy Museum of African American History –Lynchburg
Afro-American Historical Association –The Plains
The Black History Museum – Richmond
The Harrison Museum of African American Culture – Roanoke
Check out ideas on our Field Trips page, including on-location and virtual visits!
