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

A black-and-white photograph of a crowd picketing with signs outside a building, photographed from above.

Methods of the Major Civil Rights Organizations

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Take a quick look at the differing practices of the “Big Four” civil rights organizations.

Essay

A collage of three photographs on a dotted orange background. Clockwise from left: A black-and-white photograph of Bo Diddley, a Black man wearing a dark shirt with ornamental stripes on the sleeves and a dark hat. He is playing a guitar with a rectangular head while singing into a microphone; A black-and-white photograph of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a Black woman in a dark colored dress, looking upward with her guitar hanging by its strap on her shoulder; and a color photograph of Little Richard, a Black man

Bo Diddley, Little Richard, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe

with Charles Hughes

Learn more about these three trailblazing musicians.

Video

A stylized post of (from top to bottom) a bearded man atop a horse, held up by a woman.

Òpó (veranda post)

by Olowe of Ise

View a modern example of Yoruba art and design traditions.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of W. C. Handy, a Black man wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and light tie, holding a trumpet.

Origins of the African American Musical Tradition

with Charles Hughes

Learn more about how musical and performative traditions from Africa and diaspora became modern American genres.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of nine Black students, six girls and three boys, with Mayor Robert Wagner of New York City.

School Desegregation

with Justin Driver

Learn more about the immediate aftermath and impact of the Brown decision.

Video

A gold staff with two human figures on either side of a spider web.

Staff of Office (ȯkyeame)

Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century

View an example of a staff held by high ranking officials in West Africa.

Primary Source

Augusta Savage, a Black woman, smiling and looking to her left as she holds a small sculpture of an antelope or similar creature in her hands.

Searching for Augusta Savage

with Jeffreen M. Hayes

Learn more about Savage’s art amid the New Negro movement and Harlem Renaissance.

Video

Vinyl record with a brown Columbia records label, adorned with red, white, and blue banners, and the title and artist ("Hope I'll Join the Band," Fisk University Jubilee Singers.)

Songs of the Fisk Jubilee Singers

1909–1924

Listen to early recordings of spirituals recorded and popularized by the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Video

The Evolution of the Underground Railroad

with Christopher Bonner

Learn more about how the Underground Railroad operated and how the term for this means of escape from bondage emerged.

Video

First typed page of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

The Path to Brown v. Board of Education

with Justin Driver

Learn more about the Brown v. Board case as it made its way to the Supreme Court and the Court’s historic decision.

Video

Joe Biden, wearing a blue suit, blue dotted tie, and flag lapel pin, standing next to and listening to Opal Lee, a bespectacled Black woman wearing a white shirt and necklace.

Juneteenth: Exploring Freedom’s Stories

by Annenberg Classroom

Explore the history of Juneteenth, from its initial celebration following the Civil War through its enactment as a federal holiday.

Video

A White woman in a yellow dress and dark orange cape and a White man in a white and red shirt and blue and white striped pants, eating at a table. Behind them are two Black people: a woman in a white dress fanning the two seated White people, and a man, wearing a white collared shirt and orange sweater, arms crossed behind the seated White man. In front of the table are two naked Black children, one of whom is being fed by the White woman.

Slavery and Freedom in Brazil

with Reighan Gillam

Explore the pervasive nature of slavery in Brazil and the path to abolition.

Video