Black History Month kids and family programming
Recognizing and honoring Black History Month
PORTLAND, Ore. — February 1, 2024 — Multnomah County Library invites the community to join in celebrating and honoring Black History Month. Visit a library location through February 29 to learn about events, book displays and activities.
Honor Black History Month 2025
February is Black History Month, a time to honor and celebrate Black history and culture. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History has selected a theme every year since 1928. The theme for 2025 is African Americans and Labor.
Celebrate Black History Month at the Library
February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate influential people, events and actions contributing to Black History in the United States. Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History selects a theme for Black History Month to focus the attention on one specific aspect of the Black experience.
Black History Month adult and older teen programming
Black History Month adult and older teen programming
10 ways to celebrate Black history at the library
The theme for Black History Month 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts.” Celebrate this year’s theme with these suggestions.
Making Black history now
The library’s Black Cultural Library Advocates (BCLA) are staff members focused on strengthening the connection between the Black community and Multnomah County Library.
Discover Black history through newspapers
Black-owned newspapers date back to before the Civil War. Even after Black people began publishing newspapers, there were areas of the country where people still communicated in secret to avoid violence and suspicion. In much of the country, Black people, especially enslaved Black people, lived under governments that made it illegal for them to read or write. When Black people wrote, read and published their own newspapers, it was an act of vital resistance against oppression.
Local & family history
Dig into the past with resources at the library. Librarians can get you started as you research the history of your family, house or local community.
Research your family history
Research your family history with these popular resources.
4 ways to get inspired this Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month is in March, with International Women’s Day on March 8. The 2025 theme for the month is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” We have four suggestions on how you can get inspired at the library!
Mark Black History Month 2024 with this list of curated titles focused on African Americans and the arts.
-Alicia T.
Коллекция Black Resources
Black Resources Collection библиотеки округа Малтнома предлагает более 7000 наименований книг, фильмов, периодических изданий, музыки и многого другого, относящихся к жизни афроамериканцев, а также произведения, созданные афроамериканцами и другими авторами африканского происхождения.
Juneteenth at the library: History and ways to celebrate with family
The first Juneteenth in Portland was led by Clara Peoples in 1945.
Check out a book (or several!) about the seen and unseen labor carried out by the Black community.
"The 2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans, and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational
Cooking History with Black Eyed Peas
Stones, Bones and Blacked-Eyed Peas presents: The historical and cultural significance of black eyed peas. Join chef and owner of Finer Things Events and Catering, Michelle Guinn, along with her daughter, Sable Askew and take a trip back into history. Enjoy a cooking demonstration using traditional foods and recipes cooked by African Americans from the time of slavery, and explore their many modern interpretations.
Top 5 books about Black Resistance for kids and teens
The 2023 national theme for Black History Month is “Black Resistance,” in recognition of the historic and ongoing oppression that Black and African American people have resisted.
Mark Black History Month 2024 by exploring these titles for young readers focused on African Americans in the arts.
-Alicia T.
Black health and wellness
Here is a list of local mental health resources and organizations working to destigmatize Black mental health and provide support to the Black community here in Multnomah County. At the library, we are proud to center resources that help communities thrive and succeed.
Black Resources Collection
Multnomah County Library’s Black Resource Collection offers a variety of materials that are primarily written by African Diasporic authors. Ranging from the latest fiction title to out-of-print newspapers, this collection also has materials for all ages that focus on the experience of the African Diaspora.