Wentworth Cheswell was a U.S. founding father, Revolutionary War hero, teacher, and elected official, but you probably have never heard of him. That’s because Wentworth Cheswell is African American and there was a time when their presence was purposefully stripped from American history books. This is just one example of how our history curriculum constantly leaves out prominent African Americans.

The complete story of America should be in our history books. Often the story of African Americans in our history are relegated only to slavery, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement. Our history, America’s history, is so much more. It’s time to include the many African American founding fathers, heroes, scientists, inventors, and other important figures that have been left out of our school's history books.

We are calling on Secretary John King Jr. head of the Department of Education, to work with historians and scholars that specialize in African American History to develop better guidelines and suggested curriculum that includes the African Americans that have contributed so much to our history.

At the moment, the federal government can only help make suggestions for what should be included in school curriculum due to a law passed by Congress. While this make such an effort seem only symbolic, it would be a bold move in the right direction and bring attention to an issue that has gone unnoticed in many classrooms. It would help states and local school boards better craft an education that shares the contributions of all Americans.

African American history is American history and it shouldn’t be relegated to one month out of the year. In order for that to happen, we need leadership and guidance from officials like Secretary King. Please join us in calling for the Department of Education to create a task force made up of historians and scholars that specialize in African American History to help build a more inclusive history curriculum for our students.