Who made Black History Month? 

Carter G. Woodson, known to many as the “Father of Black History” came up with the concept of “Negro History Week” in 1926, intended to “both create and popularize the knowledge about the Black past.” 

Woodson, whose parents were enslaved, grew up to be an author, historian and the second African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard University. 

February is American Heart Month, a time when all people—especially women—are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health. This Heart Month, the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) is encouraging women to listen to their hearts and speak up for their health.

February:   Did you know union facts?

Feb. 5, 1993:  President Bill Clinton signs the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires most employers of 50 or more workers to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a family or medical emergency.

Feb. 6, 1910: Philadelphia shirtwaist makers vote to accept arbitration offer and end walkout, effectively ending the Triangle Shirtwaist strike.

Feb. 7, 1894: Mine owners in Cripple Creek, Colorado cut wages from $3 to $2.50 a day, leading union miners to begin a five-month strike that ends in victory. In an unprecedented move, the governor calls out the state militia to protect the strikers from the owners.

Feb. 13, 2008: Hollywood writers return to work at the end of a 100-day strike that shut down more than 60 television shows. The new contract gives Writers Guild of America members residual payments for programs streamed online and formalizes union jurisdiction over Web programming.

Feb. 14, 1903: The Western Federation of Miners begin a strike for an 8-hour working day.

Feb. 14, 1903: President Theodore Roosevelt signs a law creating the Department of Commerce and Labor.

Feb. 16, 2011: Public schools in Madison close after teachers call in sick to protest Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s bill that would strip the state’s 175,000 public employees of their collective bargaining rights.

Feb. 23, 1864: Kate Mullany, a 19-year-old Irish immigrant, leads members of the all-female Collar Laundry Union in a successful strike in Troy, New York, for increased wages and improved working conditions.

Feb. 26, 2004: United Food & Commercial Workers reach an agreement with employers to end the nearly five-month-long grocery strike and lockout of 59,000 workers in Southern California, fueled by management’s demand to strip workers of healthcare benefits. The new two-tier contract requires employees to pay for healthcare benefits for the first time, includes no raises, pays new hires less and puts them in a different healthcare plan.