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

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

A black-and-white photograph of seven men wearing wide-brimmed hats. To the right of the man third from left is a horse.

African Americans in the Seminole Nation

by Rachel Sarah O’Toole

Explore how maroons and self-emancipated people joined the Seminole community.

Essay

Title page for The Urban League Bulletin magazine.

The National Urban League and the Great Migration

with Marc H. Morial

Learn more about the impact of the National Urban League over its more than 100-year history.

Video

Stipple portrait of James McCune Smith, a white-haired Black man with a mustache, wearing a dark jacket and bow tie

Free Black Neighborhoods Post-Emancipation

with Carla L. Peterson

Take a closer look at how free Black communities evolved after the Emancipation Proclamation and the Reconstruction Amendments.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Sojourner Truth, seated, holding sewing materials in her hand; below her portrait is the phrase "I sell the shadow to support the substance."

Black Women’s Activism in Free Black Communities

with Carla L. Peterson

Learn how Black women such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth organized for their communities.

Video

A newspaper advertisement announcing a procession of the African Lodge in Philadelphia in 1797

Free Black Organizations and Institutions

with Carla L. Peterson

Learn how free Black people established mutual aid societies and other institutions.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Carter G. Woodson, a Black man, wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and polka-dotted tie

The Black Campus Movement and African American Studies

with Clarence Taylor

Explore how the field of African American Studies evolved and the first university departments in the field were formed.

Video

A string of 8 multicolored glass beads

Beads and Trans-Saharan Trade

with Abidemi Babatúnde Babalola

Learn more about the importance of beads in African kingdoms, and their impact on the archaeological record.

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

Two maps side by side, of Oak Park and surrounding towns/neighborhoods in 1950 and 2010. The 1950 map shows an almost exclusively White population; the 2010 map shows a diverse community surrounded by an overwhelmingly Black neighborhood to the east and overwhelmingly Latino towns to the south.

Responses to and Impact of Housing Discrimination

with Richard Rothstein

Learn more about how African Americans fought against housing discrimination.

Video

A flyer with the images of two white men (Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner) flanking the image of a Black man (James Chaney).

Nonviolent Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement

by Robert Greene II

Learn more about nonviolent tactics and campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement.

Essay

A color photograph of a crowd gathering around the reflecting pool in Washington, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol rotunda in the distance. In the foreground, a White man holds a red-and-white sign reading "We march for jobs for all now!"

The Power of Nonviolent Resistance in the Civil Rights Movement

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Learn more about the impact and successes of nonviolent organizing during the Civil Rights Movement.

Essay