WVU ’s first Black History Month of the new millennium began Tuesday (Feb. 1) with a celebration in the Mountainlair ballrooms that featured the Paul Robeson/Mahalia Jackson Choir, a step show and various skits.

Organizers say the events combine history with entertainment and philanthropy to celebrate African American history and culture.

An art expo, African Dance Ensemble Concert, clothes drive, children=s day and speakers on success and enslavement highlight the month-long series.

Carter G. Woodson, who died in 1950, founded what is now the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1915. He first proposed”Negro History Week”to be heldin the month that includes the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, from whom Douglass helped recruit black troops in the Civil War.

By 1976, the week had evolved into Black History Month, celebrated nationwide.