Black/African-American History Month 2025

Black/African-American History Month is February 1 - February 28.

Black/African-American History Month LibGuide: Linked in this guide hosted by FCPS is essential information about the study and celebration of Black/African-American History Month.

Black History is Brilliant

bril-yuhnt ]

adjective

  • Exceptionally clever or talented

Katherine JohnsonKatherine Johnson, Mathematician & Computer Scientist

Born in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va, Katherine Johnson was the daughter of a teacher and a farmer/janitor. From a young age, she excelled in mathematical equations. She graduated early from high school at the age of 14 and was one of the first African Americans to enroll in the mathematics program at West Virginia State University, where she graduated in 1937. 

Johnson became a teacher until 1953 when she joined the Langley Research Center as a research mathematician for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Even after NASA began using electronic computers, John Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations made by the new computers before his mission as the first American to orbit the Earth. She continued to work at NASA until 1986. Johnson’s calculations were critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program. Johnson’s story is featured in the 2016 film Hidden Figures, which was nominated for three Oscar Awards. 

Johnson received many awards during her 101 years of life, including NASA’s Lunar Spacecraft and Operations Group Achievement Award and NASA’s Apollo Group Achievement Award. In 2015, she received the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Barack Obama. She also was the co-author of 26 scientific papers, leaving a brilliant legacy in the fields of math and science for future generations.

Reginald F. Lewis, American Businessman

Born in 1942, Reginald F. Lewis was an American businessman. He was one of the wealthiest African-American men in the 1980s, and the first African American to build a billion-dollar company, Beatrice Foods. In 1993, Forbes listed Lewis among the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth estimated at $400 million.

In January 1993, Reginald’s remarkable career was cut short by his untimely death at the age of 50 after a short illness. Even after his death, Lewis’ philanthropic endeavors continue. During his illness, he made known his desire to support a museum of African American culture. In 2002, the Vice President of his foundation read an article in The Baltimore Sun describing a museum of Maryland African American History and Culture slated to be built near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum is the largest African American museum in Maryland and features more than 11,000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibition space, a two-story theater, and classrooms.

Lawyer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, Chairman, CEO, husband, father, son, brother, nephew, cousin, friend— Lewis lived his life according to the words he often quoted to audiences around the country: “Keep going, no matter what.”