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

A Black man wearing a tan sweater and white pants in a power wheelchair, talking to a white man in a white hat, white shirt, jean shorts, white socks, and black boots, as another white man in a yellow shirt, khaki shorts, white socks, and sneakers looks on.

Both Black and Disabled: Intersectional Experiences

by Jenifer L. Barclay

Explore the history of stigmatization of, and resiliency among, Black disabled people in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Essay

The Freedmen’s Bureau and African American Families

by Justene Hill Edwards

Understand the roles the Freedmen’s Bureau played in supporting African American families and communities.

Essay

Nichelle Nichols, a Black woman with white hair, wearing a black shirt, beaded necklace, and white round earrings. She is holding a small LEGO character of an astronaut in a white spacewalking suit, next to a large gold and blue ring on her finger.

“Nichelle Nichols: Woman on a NASA Mission”

by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Explore Nichols’s role in diversifying the space shuttle program.

Video

A partially typed, partially hand-drawn map from All Souls Church toward the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington

March on Washington Route Map

1963

View one of the organizing documents for the 1963 March on Washington.

Primary Source

Map of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma with towns pointed out.

The Exodusters and Black Towns, ca. 1900

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Explore an early phase of Black migration after the Civil War through this map.

Thematic Map

At left, a man with a simian face and rumpled clothing, and a dagger in his right pocket. He is holding a club with "A Vote" written on it. He is wearing a hat with a white ribbon reading "5 Points" and a Christian cross tucked into the ribbon. 2. At center, a tall man with a goatee. He has a CSA belt-buckle, a light-colored hat with a large brim and a black ribbon, and a pistol on his left hip. He holds a dagger with "The Lost Cause" written on the blade. At right, a shorter man in a three-piece suit.

The Betrayal of Emancipation

by Thomas J. Davis

Learn more about Black civil rights following Reconstruction.

Essay

A typed document on yellow-green paper

March on Washington Organizing Document

1963

Read instructions for a group of medical professionals ahead of the March on Washington.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of President Lyndon B. Johnson handing a pen to John Lewis as others look on.

Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Rights Activism

with Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Learn more about the impact of civil rights organizations on securing civil rights legislation and growing grassroots power.

Video

Martin Luther King Jr. in a dark suit and tie and white shirt, looking out from a balcony at the street below.

Essential Methods of the Major Civil Rights Organizations

with Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Learn more about the major civil rights organizations of the 1950s and 1960s and their typical day-to-day operations.

Video

Two African American men sitting in front of a tent, one with cigar and the other with a soup ladle.

African Americans and the Civil War

with Elizabeth R. Varon

Learn more about free and enslaved Africans’ contributions to the Union war effort.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Robert Smalls, a goateed Black man, seated, wearing a dark jacket, bow tie, and vest (with pocket watch chain), and a white shirt.

Beyond the Battlefield: African American Contributions to the Civil War

with Elizabeth R. Varon

Learn more about the men, women, and children who contributed to the war effort through various means.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of several Black women in dresses holding signs in support of voter registration.

Black Women and Grassroots Organizing

by Robert F. Jefferson Jr.

Explore the history of local activism led by Black women in the twentieth century.

Essay