AP African American Studies Resource Archive | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

A stained glass sign that reads “CITIZENS / SAVINGS / BANK”

Citizen’s Savings and Trust Company Clock

1920–2013

View this artifact of a financial institution founded for the purposes of growing Black wealth.

Seven Black women with Afros raising their right fists.

Black Panther Women in Oakland, CA

1968

View an example of women organizing and protesting in the Black Panther Party.

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A black-and-white photograph showing children preparing bags of food to be distributed through the Panther Free Food Program at the Black Panther Community Survival Conference in Oakland, California. Four Black children, two boys and two girls, are placing bags of puffed wheat cereal into brown paper grocery bags that have been organized in rows.

Black Panther Free Food Program

1972

View an example of the Black Panther Party's direct action in the community through food distribution.

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Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. smiling and talking with each other while a police escort stands near.

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X

1964

View a photograph of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s only meeting.

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From left to right: a Black woman wearing a white vest and plaid pants kneeling with head raised; John Lewis, a Black man wearing a white button-down shirt, black pants, and black shoes, kneeling with head bowed while holding a notepad in his left hand; a Black girl wearing a white shirt, shorts, and shoes, kneeling with head bowed; and a Black man wearing a white button-down shirt, black pants, and black shoes, kneeling with head bowed. All are in front of a brick building with ground-floor windows.

John Lewis at a Prayer Demonstration

1962

View a photograph of members of the SNCC kneeling in prayer in Cairo, Illinois.

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Medal podium at the 1968 Olympic Games. Tommie Smith (the gold medalist, center), a Black man, is wearing a dark blue Team USA jacket (with red and white trim), the gold medal around his neck, and his right hand in a Black Power salute with a black glove on his clenched right fist. John Carlos (bronze medalist, right), a Black man, is also wearing a Team USA uniform (with an unzipped jacket) and mirrors the salute with his left hand. Peter Norman (left), a white man, is wearing a green jacket.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos during XIX Summer Olympics

1968

View a key example of sports as a platform for the Black freedom struggle.

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An open-topped car with four passengers in a parade. The driver is a Black man with a dark jacket, white shirt, dark tie, and dark driver's cap. In the back seat, from left to right, is a Black man in a military uniform; a Black man wearing academic regalia; Marcus Garvey, a Black man, wearing a military uniform and holding a sword. Next to the car is a Black man wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and striped tie. In the background are apartment buildings, where Black people are looking on at the parade.

Marcus Garvey in Harlem

1924

View another photograph of Garvey and an entourage, as captured by James Van Der Zee.

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A green book cover with gold text reading "Harriet, the Moses of Her People"

Harriet, the Moses of Her People

1886

Read an authorized description of Tubman’s escape written by a White woman who had interviewed Tubman.

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Title page of The Refugee: or the Narrative of Fugitive Slaves in Canada

Harriet Tubman’s reflection in The Refugee

1856

Read Tubman’s memories of enslavement and freedom in her own words.

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An engraving of a bust of a bearded Black man wearing a black suit, white shirt, and dark bow tie, in three-quarter view looking toward the left

“An Address to the Slaves of the United States”

1843

Explore this speech, rejected by the National Colored Convention.

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Etta Moten Barnett, a Black woman wearing a multicolored dress and white necklace, standing next to the metal gates in front of her house.

Etta Moten Barnett and Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ghana

1957

Hear from King during his visit to Ghana, in conversation with actress, musician, and journalist Etta Moten Barnett.

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Cover of the 1830 pamphlet edition of Walker's Appeal ... to the Colored Citizens of the World printed in Boston

“Walker’s Appeal”

1829

Black abolitionist David Walker wrote a powerful pamphlet on the effects of enslavement on African Americans and what enslaved people should do to escape.

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