Introduction
Black History month started out as Black History Week, scheduled near Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. It eventually became Black History Month. That explains how the shortest, coldest month got assigned to Black History Month.
Black History Month Project
I was on the Diversity Committee at Honeywell in Billerica, Massachusetts. I suggested that we sponsor Kathryn Woods to present her play as Sojourner Truth at our three Boston area locations and nearby schools. Kathryn is an actress in the Boston area who has been in movies such as Housesitter with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn and was in plays at Boston’s Wheelock Family Theatre and others. Her show was excellent and was very well received in 1992.
The next year I had the idea to ask another actor to portray a Tuskegee Airman. In researching this project, I contacted John Roach, the president of the New England Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. It turned out that he and other members did give presentations about their experiences as Tuskegee Airmen. We did not need to write a script, and I video taped their talks. They presented their talks and a video program at the three Honeywell plants and three nearby schools for Black History Month.