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From left, John Lester Harris and Morven Elementary School Principal Marilyn Bennett hold up a picture of Harris' unit in World War II, the 92nd Infantry and Artillery.
Children sang songs and there were a series of speakers in the school gym.
The featured speaker was school board member Leon Gatewood. He briefly reviewed the history of the holiday and spoke about prominent African-Americans, relating their stories to the present.
Black History Month began in 1926 as "Negro History Week." African-American historian Carter Woodson started the tradition. He chose the second week in February because it marked the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
"You are not too young to have some sense," Gatewood told the children.
"I believe in dreams because I know the value of a dream," Gatewood said of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
He quoted Fannie Lou Hamer, the famous civil rights activist. "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."
"What will matter is not what you got but what you gave," he said.
Other guests included John Lester Harris, a veteran of World War II, and Michael Waring, who performs as a Buffalo Soldier.
Harris, a resident of Lilesville, was a radio operator who directed artillery fire. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946.
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