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

Two Black women in military uniform (dark jackets, light shirts and ties, dark skirts and boots) looking on at two rows of other Black women in military uniform standing at attention.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

1945

View this photograph of Black women serving in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

Primary Source

A wooden crucifix sculpture with three crosses stacked vertically, each with a Christlike crucified figure

Christianity and the Kingdom of Kongo

with John K. Thornton

Take a deep dive into Nzinga a Nkuwu (João), Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso), and the Kingdom of Kongo's move to Catholicism.

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

Two water fountains: at left, a larger water fountain labeled "white" and a smaller fountain labeled "colored." The labels appear above the fountains.

Segregated Water Fountains

n.d.

See another example of how Jim Crow discrimination was made manifest in the built environment.

Primary Source

Three boys playing atop the roof of a blue car, in front of an apartment building with graffiti written on the ground floor.

The Influence of the 1960s and 1970s on Hip-Hop

with Jeff Chang

Explore the importance of place and community on the development and growth of hip-hop in its earliest days.

Video

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

A color photograph of W. E. B. Du Bois, wearing a brown pinstriped suit, white shirt, and blue-and-gray checked tie, against a background of multicolored spirals.

“I Lifted Up Mine Eyes to Ghana”

by Keisha N. Blain

Explore W. E. B. Du Bois’s relationship with and advocacy for the anticolonial movement.

Essay

“Petition of the People of Colour, Freemen,” Philadelphia

1799

Explore this petition referencing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in support of Black freedom.

Primary Source

“Negroes Who Obtained Freedom”

1781

Read a plea from free Black people in Philadelphia to protect their freedom.

Primary Source

A brick building with two round sections on either side, connected via a colonnade topped by a white steeple and flagpole in front of a brick fence.

“Petition to the Virginia House of Delegates”

1784

Read this plea written by Sarah Greene, a formerly enslaved woman caught in a legal fight.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of a Black man wearing a dark top hat and suit riding a horse leading a procession including a band of musicians down a dirt road

Freedom Days in American History

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Learn more about the long history of celebrating emancipation, from January 1, to August 1, to Juneteenth.

Video

Detail from a multicolored map depicting enslaved population by county in the South, along with government farms and camps set up by the Union Army during the Civil War.

Emancipation: Separating Myth from Fact

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Break down common misconceptions about the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment in this video.

Video

AP African American Studies Resource Library

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

1945

Christianity and the Kingdom of Kongo

with John K. Thornton

White Supremacy in the Early Twentieth Century: Causes and Responses

with Adriane Lentz-Smith

Segregated Water Fountains

n.d.

The Influence of the 1960s and 1970s on Hip-Hop

with Jeff Chang

Searching for Augusta Savage

with Jeffreen M. Hayes

“I Lifted Up Mine Eyes to Ghana”

by Keisha N. Blain

“Petition of the People of Colour, Freemen,” Philadelphia

1799

“Negroes Who Obtained Freedom”

1781

“Petition to the Virginia House of Delegates”

1784

Freedom Days in American History

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Emancipation: Separating Myth from Fact

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

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