In 1926 Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of parents who had been born into slavery, established “Negro History Week.” Woodson, who earned his Ph.D. at Harvard and was a noted historian, was distressed that American schools and American textbooks largely ignored the history of African Americans. Woodson chose the second week of February to celebrate what was African American history because it included the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. Douglas, who was born into slavery in 1817, became an international figure in the fight against it. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which led to he freeing of all slaves in the United States. In 1976 the week in February that Woodson had worked to establish commemorate African American history became Black History Month. In high schools, Black History Month activities often take place in social studies or history classes. Students study the many important contributions African Americans have made to the United States throughout its history. Students learn about the African American struggle for freedom, from slavery, through the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s, and to the present.