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

A wedding near a fireplace. The groom is a Black man wearing a dark coat, white pants, and a white shirt. The bride is a Black woman wearing a white dress. Groomsmen and bridesmaids are behind the couple, and the officiant (wearing a dark coat and pants and holding a book) is faced in the couple's direction. Behind the officiant are more witnesses, a bassist, and a clarinetist (the latter musicians sitting).

Dressing Freedom: The Wedding Clothing of Freed People

by Brenda E. Stevenson

Explore the importance of wedding clothing for freed people during Reconstruction.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a large group of Black and White people congregating on a bridge, as cars attempt to pass.

Visualizing the Red Summer Timeline

2015–2025

Learn more about the White supremacist violence that took place in cities across the US in 1919.

Black and white portrait of Booker T. Washington, three-quarter length, seated, facing front

Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington: A Little-known Encounter

by Adele Alexander

Learn the critical differences in attitude and approach taken by Douglass and Washington, and their 1892 encounter at the Tuskegee Institute.

Essay

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America

with Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Explore the history of race, crime, and modern US history.

Video

Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance

with Mia Bay

Learn more about the impact of Homer Plessy on segregation and discrimination of railroad travel.

Video

Photograph of Chad Williams, a Black man, in a blue suit with a light blue button-down shirt.

The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War

with Chad Williams

Learn about W.E.B. Du Bois and his thoughts on the participation of Black Americans in the First World War.

Video

A black historical marker with white text and the seal of the Georgia Historical Society at top.

White Supremacy in the Early Twentieth Century: Causes and Responses

with Adriane Lentz-Smith

Take a deep dive into the proliferation of white supremacist violence in the 1910s and 1920s, and responses from Black communities.

Video

Six older Black men wearing dark suits sitting on steps in two rows of three.

The WPA Slave Narratives

by Robert C. Williams

Develop an understanding of the nuances behind recording narratives of formerly enslaved people during the Great Depression.

Essay

Maintaining the Freedmen’s Bureau

1866

Read the legislation that extended the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Primary Source

A train platform with, at center, a wrought-iron sculpture of a man wearing a suit and hat while holding a suitcase.

“Hear the Lone Whistle Moan” / “copacetic”

by Alison Saar

View two pieces paying homage to the Harlem Renaissance.

Work of Art

A tile mosaic in a subway station of drum majors in white uniforms dancing in formation.

“PARADE”

by Derek Fordjour

View an homage to historic parades through Harlem in this mosaic created in the New York City subway system.

Work of Art

A white tile mosaic mural of several Black people airborne above buildings.

“Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines”

by Faith Ringgold

View a fantastical homage to Harlem history through this work of art in the New York City subway.

Work of Art

AP African American Studies Resource Library