In 1926, Black History Week was established to be celebrated during the second week of February, which coincided with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, the week was expanded into a monthlong tribute.

According to U.S. Census data, nearly 40 million African-Americans live in the United States today, which is slightly more than 13 percent of the total U.S. population.

The AFT has developed a Web page to help teachers celebrate Black History Month in their classrooms. The site highlights key historical events, influential figures and the continuing contributions African-Americans are making to the world.

For instance, did you know that black Americans were largely responsible for developing our railway system? More than 40 different patents were awarded to blacks who invented machinery and parts vital to the function of trains, tracks and passenger safety. The Web site includes a special focus on the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, including profiles of its leaders and events.

The site also includes recommended readings for grades K-12 as well as links to primary documents and lesson plans. See www.aft.org/teachers/black-history.htm.

As historians take a closer look at the many facets of black history in this country, they often find themselves documenting not only the struggle of an oppressed people but also how that struggle was part of a larger social and economic movement.

That makes the American Labor Studies Center especially valuable in February, when the organization spotlights and celebrates Black (Labor) History Month at its redesigned Web site. Visit www.labor-studies.org for links to "African Americans and the American Labor Movement" by James Gilbert Cassidy. The paper is most helpful for anyone wishing to study this topic in detail using resources available through the agencies of the U.S. government.

Also featured is "The Power of Remembering: Black Factory Workers and Union Organizing in the Jim Crow Era," Michael Honey’s exploration of how the struggle stretched across generations, classes and professions. A special Web section on "Civil Rights & Labor Rights" includes Martin Luther King's address to the 1961 AFL-CIO convention, an excellent overview of the relationship between the civil rights and labor movements. Included in this section is the "I Am a Man" special exhibit, presented by the Reuther Library at Wayne State University, honoring the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. King was attending this strike when he was assassinated.