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

A black-and-white photograph of a Black man wearing a light-colored suit and dark bowler hat walking with a cane in his right hand; in the background is rubble of buildings destroyed in the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Tulsa after the Greenwood Massacre

1925–1926

View silent film scenes of Tulsa’s Black institutions and organizations in the mid-1920s.

Video

A color photograph of six golden silhouette statues in a semicircle, behind a fence, with a pedestal below reading "Portsmouth African Burial Ground."

“Petition to New Hampshire State Legislature”

1779

Read a petition for freedom inspired by the American Revolution.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of a parade; Black women, most wearing white dresses and hats, march in formation in rows of about twenty. Between two groups of women there is a row of four Black men in dark suits, ties, and hats, holding up large American flags. In the first group of women, one woman holds up a sign reading, "YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD."

Negro Silent Protest Petition on Lynching

1917

Read a response from Black leaders to White supremacist violence, two years before Red Summer.

Primary Source

Front page of the Spotlight on Africa newsletter for April 20, 1954, featuring a group of Black women sitting and standing in a group photo.

Black Internationalism and the Expansive Meanings of Freedom

by Merve Fejzula

Learn more about how those in the Black Freedom struggle came together across the African continent and diaspora in the 1930s through the 1970s.

Essay

A photograph of a large brick hospital building with multiple wings.

Black American Contributions to Modern Medicine

by George Aumoithe

Learn more about how Black medical professionals overcame obstacles in the field and innovated despite exclusion.

Essay

A hand-colored portrait of Sissieretta Jones, a Black woman also known here as The Black Patti and the Greatest Singer of Her Race, wearing a gold necklace and earrings and a white dress covered with medals and ribbons.

“UNLADYLIKE2020: Sissieretta Jones”

with Julianna Margulies

Explore the career of the first African American woman to headline at Carnegie Hall.

Video

“UNLADYLIKE2020: Gladys Bentley”

with Lorraine Toussaint and Lisa Wilkerson

Learn more about this trailblazing pianist, musician, and drag entertainer.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (a Black soldier in uniform and sunglasses), Joe Louis (a Black man wearing a light colored suit and a dark bowtie), Thurgood Marshall (a Black man wearing a dark suit and white shirt, his head resting on his crooked right arm), and Daisy Lampkin (a Black woman wearing a light colored dress and dark hat) seated outside under an open-air tent.

NAACP Civil Rights Convention

1947

View this photograph of four activists in the wake of the Double V movement taken by Joe Schwartz.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of three women, Audre Lorde, a Black woman with an afro at left; Meridel Lesueur, a White woman with white hair and glasses in the center; and Adrienne Rich, a White woman with short black hair, at right.

Black Feminism: A History of Theory and Activism

by Dayo F. Gore

Learn more about the Combahee River Collective and other groups and individuals involved in shaping Black feminism in the twentieth century.

Essay

A green flyer for Bad Brains (featuring a Lion of Judah with a Star of David crown, its tail knocking over a building) and Minor Threat, noting the date, time, and location.

Bad Brains in Concert

1982

Learn more about this foundational all-Black punk band through this concert flyer.

Primary Source

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