Presidential proclamations and executive orders have been used by presidents to rule on substantive issues of law; to administrate the executive branch of government; and to make general announcements to the public. These general announcements, which exhort the public to observe a holiday such as Thanksgiving or honor a particular group of citizens as in National Disability Employment Awareness Month, are usually issued in the form of a presidential proclamation. On many occasions Congress will pass a law specifically requesting the president to take certain action proclaiming the recognition of a particular group of citizens as Jewish or Hispanic Americans.

Presidential proclamations for the annual observances of National Black or African American History Month from 1986 to the present can be browsed through the American Presidency Project External by selecting the year to be browsed and clicking on the Apply button. Presidential messages, statements, and remarks before 1993 can be searched from the home page of the American Presidency Project External.

Presidential proclamations as well as presidential statements, messages, and remarks for Black History Month can be searched from the Government Publishing Office’s advanced search page in the collections for the Code of Federal Regulations, the Compilation of Presidential Documents, and the Federal Register.

Listed below are links to examples of presidential messages and proclamations for Black History Week or Month, along with the citations to the Public Papers of the Presidents, the Code of Federal Regulations or the Federal Register, the official publications for presidential messages and proclamations.