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

A hand-colored map of the world in two hemispheres, with routes of the African slave trade and a star on the state of Georgia.

The Color Line and “Double Consciousness”

by Trudier Harris

Examine the importance of “the mask,” “the veil,” and “the color line” in works by Dunbar, Du Bois, and Ellison.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of Black men in WWII aviator uniforms sitting, their attention directed out of frame.

African Americans’ Involvement in World War II

by Marcus S. Cox

Learn more about how the Double V campaign was made manifest at home and abroad.

Essay

A printed flyer for "THE BLACK ARTS PARADE!!," featuring a two-sided mask in the top right of the flyer.

Building the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School

1965–1966

View early documents from a center for the Black Arts movement in Harlem, founded by the poet LeRoi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka).

Primary Source

An engraving of a white-haired Frederick Douglass standing at a desk, wearing a dark jacket and waistcoat, dark bow tie, and white shirt and pants, shaking the hand of another Black man wearing a white shirt, as others wait to greet him at left

Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom

by Steven Mintz

Read about Frederick Douglass from his childhood and youth as an enslaved person and his legacy as a leading abolitionist and equal rights advocate.

Essay

The image is a black-and-white portrait of Langston Hughes, the renowned African American poet, playwright, and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He is shown from the chest up, wearing a suit with a tie and a sweater vest underneath. He has a warm smile and is looking slightly downward, with soft lighting casting gentle shadows on his face. The background is plain, and the photograph has a classic, vintage feel, likely taken in the mid-20th century.

“I Too”: Langston Hughes’s Afro-Whitmanian Affirmation

by Steven Tracy

Explore Hughes' "I, Too" poem, its connection to Walt Whitman, and its role in affirming Black identity in America.

Essay

A large stone building with "MUNICIPAL BUILDING" carved above the front doors and flags of North Carolina, the United States, and Wilson on poles above the entrance.

The Civil Rights Act and the Pursuit of Greater Freedom

by Charles W. McKinney

Read about civil rights protests in the small town of Wilson, North Carolina, in the 1960s.

Essay

Handwritten fragment of Abraham Lincoln's last Annual Message supporting the Thirteenth Amendment

Abraham Lincoln and the Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment

by Allen C. Guelzo

Explore Lincoln’s role in the abolition of slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment.

Essay

The sign for The Crossroads, featuring a ring of three blue guitars (each facing a different direction) on the bottom and the highways 61 and 49 signs above.

Clarksdale: Myth, Music, and Mercy in the Mississippi Delta

by Shelley Ritter

Read about musician Muddy Waters, the blues, and the historical exhibits at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Essay

Photograph of a mural of Robert Johnson (a Black man holding a guitar while wearing a dark suit, white shirt, dark tie, and dark hat), painted in black and white and framed by wisps of smoke, on a purple wall.

Robert Johnson and the Rise of the Blues

by Elijah Wald

Read about Robert Johnson and the rise and evolution of blues music.

Essay

The Heart and Soul of Fannie Lou Hamer

by Earnest N. Bracey

Read about the life and advocacy about Civil Rights leader and National Women’s Political Caucus cofounder Fannie Lou Hamer.

Essay

The image is a sepia-toned portrait of Ida B. Wells, the African American journalist, activist, and anti-lynching crusader. She is shown from the chest up, wearing a high-collared, intricately embroidered lace dress with ruffled details. Her hair is styled in an elegant updo, and she has a composed, determined expression while gazing slightly to the side. The soft lighting and classic photographic style suggest it was taken in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The Persistence of Ida B. Wells: Reform Leader and Civil Rights Activist

by Kristina DuRocher

Learn more about Wells’s fight against lynching, her journalism, and her leadership in the civil rights movement.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a finely dressed, bearded, dark-haired Frederick Douglass looking sternly in three-quarter view

Douglass and the US Constitution: The Dred Scott Decision

by Randall Kennedy

Explore Frederick Douglass‘s response to the Dred Scott case.

Essay

AP African American Studies Resource Library