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

A wedding near a fireplace. The groom is a Black man wearing a dark coat, white pants, and a white shirt. The bride is a Black woman wearing a white dress. Groomsmen and bridesmaids are behind the couple, and the officiant (wearing a dark coat and pants and holding a book) is faced in the couple's direction. Behind the officiant are more witnesses, a bassist, and a clarinetist (the latter musicians sitting).

Dressing Freedom: The Wedding Clothing of Freed People

by Brenda E. Stevenson

Explore the importance of wedding clothing for freed people during Reconstruction.

Essay

Three young Black men wearing tracksuits and white gloves dancing as another young Black man inverts his body on a piece of cardboard. Behind them is a graffitied wall.

Breakdancers in New York

1984

View an example of b-boy culture from 1980s New York.

Primary Source

A dark abstract painting of a mask with horns

“Les Fétiches”

1938

View Loïs Mailou Jones’s painting, which brought Négritude from literature to art.

Work of Art

A black-and-white photograph of Marcus Garvey, a Black man wearing a dark suit, light-colored vest, white shirt, and dark tie, sitting in a wooden chair next to a desk filled with papers, holding a handkerchief in his right hand and a gavel in his left.

Marcus Garvey at His Desk

1924

View this photograph of Marcus Garvey, the founder and leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

Primary Source

The first page of sheet music for "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

“Lift Every Voice and Sing”

1900

Read the lyrics composed by James Weldon Johnson for what has become known as the Black National Anthem.

Primary Source

Portrait of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a young Black man, wearing a dark suit and tie and white shirt.

“We Wear the Mask”

1895

Read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, which poses a “mask” similar to Du Bois’s “veil.”

Primary Source

“If We Must Die”

1919

Read Claude McKay’s defiant poem, in response to violence against African Americans following World War I.

Primary Source

Langston Hughes, a Black man, wearing a dark suit, dark tie, and white shirt.

“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”

1926

Read Langston Hughes's essay on the limits placed on Black poets and writers during this period.

Primary Source

The head of Countee Cullen, a Black man, with a stylized drawing of his shirtfront (white shirt, black bow tie).

“Heritage” by Countee Cullen

1925

Take a deep dive into Countee Cullen’s vision of Africa through this poem.

Primary Source

A lobby card for the movie "The Betrayal". The card is comprised of a black-and-white image of a man and woman standing in a room in front of another man lying on the carpet on the floor. The man on the floor appears to be dead. The woman is wearing a dark shiny dress and is holding a gun at her side in her left hand. Her right hand is resting on her chest and her face appears to be in a state of shock. The man standing next to her is wearing a light colored suit and hat and is extending his hand toward her

Lobby card for “The Betrayal”

1948

View a lobby card from Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s last film.

Primary Source

An abstract painting of people in masks with oversized hands and feet.

“The Jungle (La Jungla)”

1942–1943

View this painting by Afro-Cuban painter Wifredo Lam.

Work of Art

Three of the San Francisco 49ers football team kneeling (right knee on ground, arms balanced on left knee) during the pregame performance of the national anthem, as their teammates, coaches, and staff stand, some with hats or hands on their left breast, behind them. The three Black men kneeling are wearing the 49ers uniform of red jerseys, gold pants (with red-white-red stripes along the leg), and either red or white socks.

San Francisco 49ers Protest

2016

View a contemporary example of sports as a platform for protest.