In 1976, President Ford declared his intention to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every endeavor throughout our history” by designating the month of February Black History Month. The theme for this year’s observance – “African-Americans and the Civil War” – focuses our attention on the value of African-American contributions and sacrifices in a time of profound crisis in the nation.

The end of the Civil War and the ratification in December 1865 of the Thirteenth Amendment marked the official end of the 250-year legacy of slavery, but, in truth, it was just the beginning of a long struggle.  For African-Americans the battle for equality continued through Reconstruction of the Union and the Civil Rights Movement, and continues up through the present day.

Recognizing and honoring the accomplishments of Black America on the battlegrounds of the past and present is critical to our knowledge and understanding of American history. If you want to learn more about these accomplishments, Madison College Libraries offers plenty of opportunity. Resources on the Civil War, the battle for civil rights, and African American history include such book titles as “Freedom’s Journey: African American voices of the Civil War,” “Forged in Battle: the Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers,” “Gridiron Gauntlet: the Story of the Men Who Integrated Pro Football, in Their Own Words” and “Tackling Jim Crow: Racial Segregation in Professional Football.”

Journal and magazine articles on African American history, the Civil Rights Movement and related topics can be accessed electronically from the Libraries databases on and off-campus with a Madison College username and password. For U.S. and world history articles such as “The Union Army Brought Emancipation to Thousands” and “African Americans in the Navy during the Civil War,” try History Reference Center and JSTOR. Antislavery movements and events can also be explored in the Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World, located in the CREDO reference database.

This year in Wisconsin the month of February is also being celebrated for an achievement of a rather different kind – the victory of the Green Bay Packers on the gridiron in Super Bowl XLV.  In honor of this victory, Gov. Scott Walker has officially declared February 2011 to be Green Bay Packers Month. While on the surface these two observances would seem to have little in common, there are, in fact, some tie-ins.

The struggle for racial equality that played out across this country finds echoes in every aspect of American life. The history of the National Football League is no exception. It was not until 1953, for example, that Willie Thrower, the first black quarterback, was admitted into the league. Blacks in management positions didn’t come until much later. It was 1989 before Art Shell became the first African American NFL head coach. It took another 10 years for an NFL team to hire its first all-black coaching staff. That team was the Green Bay Packers, under head coach Ray Rhodes.

During the month of February join the Madison College Libraries in celebrating Black History Month.