AP African American Studies Resource Archive

AP African American Studies Resource Library

An open book shows the title page of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, by Phillis Wheatley on the right. On the left, an engraving of the Black poet Phillis Wheatley in profile, sitting at a desk with a quill in hand.

The Life and Work of Phillis Wheatley

with Krystal Mackie, Jeanette Providence, and Sandra Trenholm

Discover the eighteenth-century poet who was enslaved, became free, and built a lasting legacy.

  • Video
Union troops, primarily African American, in blue uniforms, charging White Confederate troops in gray uniforms. An American flag waves in the center midground; a Confederate battle flag hangs in the left background.

The Massachusetts 54th

with Jermain Corbin and Sandra Trenholm

Explore the history of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry.

  • Video
A scan of the sheet music for Jairus Lincoln's Hymn 17.

American Antislavery Writings

1737–1862

Listen to the words of nine antislavery activists, including Phillis Wheatley, David Walker, Jairus Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass, in poetry, oration, and song.

  • Interactive
Scan of FDR's letter to Joseph Curran, typewritten on White House stationery.

FDR on Racial Discrimination

1942

Read a transcription and a bit of historical context behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s letter to Joseph Curran concerning Executive Order 8802 and discrimination against Black sailors.

  • Primary Source
Scan of the broadside, reading I AM A MAN in bold black letters with "AM" underlined.

Civil Rights Posters

1968

Explore the historical context behind two posters from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike.

  • Primary Source
Scan of a letter from Nelson Allyn to his brother Joseph in Connecticut, dated September 25, 1831.

Nelson Allyn to Joseph Allyn

1831

Read a firsthand account of the retaliation against African Americans in North Carolina after Nat Turner’s Rebellion.

  • Primary Source

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