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

Seated, from left to right, a Black man wearing a white shirt, kente cloth robe, and glasses; a Black woman wearing a white shirt; Pat Nixon, a White woman, wearing a light-colored dress with a white collar and a white hat; Richard Nixon, a White man, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and dark tie; and K.A. Gbedeman, a Black man, wearing a light-colored shirt and kente cloth robe.

“M. L. King Meets Nixon in Ghana”

1957

Read this piece from the Pittsburgh Courier that connects the Black Freedom struggles in Ghana and the US.

Primary Source

An abstract multicolored mural above a bus depot, with a blue and white bus pulling into the depot in the right foreground.

“Mother Hale’s Garden”

by Shinique Smith

Explore the life and career of an activist and community organizer through this work of public art.

Work of Art

A five-piece mural made out of steel grates of a person working in a field.

“Urban Garden Rail”

by Saya Woolfalk

Explore responses to food access issues in segregated communities through this work of art.

Work of Art

A Black man wearing a tan sweater and white pants in a power wheelchair, talking to a white man in a white hat, white shirt, jean shorts, white socks, and black boots, as another white man in a yellow shirt, khaki shorts, white socks, and sneakers looks on.

Both Black and Disabled: Intersectional Experiences

by Jenifer L. Barclay

Explore the history of stigmatization of, and resiliency among, Black disabled people in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Essay

The Freedmen’s Bureau and African American Families

by Justene Hill Edwards

Understand the roles the Freedmen’s Bureau played in supporting African American families and communities.

Essay

Nichelle Nichols, a Black woman with white hair, wearing a black shirt, beaded necklace, and white round earrings. She is holding a small LEGO character of an astronaut in a white spacewalking suit, next to a large gold and blue ring on her finger.

“Nichelle Nichols: Woman on a NASA Mission”

by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Explore Nichols’s role in diversifying the space shuttle program.

Video

A partially typed, partially hand-drawn map from All Souls Church toward the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington

March on Washington Route Map

1963

View one of the organizing documents for the 1963 March on Washington.

Primary Source

Map of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma with towns pointed out.

The Exodusters and Black Towns, ca. 1900

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Explore an early phase of Black migration after the Civil War through this map.

Thematic Map

At left, a man with a simian face and rumpled clothing, and a dagger in his right pocket. He is holding a club with "A Vote" written on it. He is wearing a hat with a white ribbon reading "5 Points" and a Christian cross tucked into the ribbon. 2. At center, a tall man with a goatee. He has a CSA belt-buckle, a light-colored hat with a large brim and a black ribbon, and a pistol on his left hip. He holds a dagger with "The Lost Cause" written on the blade. At right, a shorter man in a three-piece suit.

The Betrayal of Emancipation

by Thomas J. Davis

Learn more about Black civil rights following Reconstruction.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of several Black men in army uniforms (dark double-breasted coats, dark gloves, dark hats) standing aboard a ship, rigging visible in the left midground and cargo in the right foreground and midground.

Resistance and Resilience: Black Service in World War I

with Adriane Lentz-Smith

Learn more about African American service in the war to “make the world safe for democracy,” while also dealing with racism at home.

Video

March on Washington Organizing Document

1963

Read instructions for a group of medical professionals ahead of the March on Washington.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of President Lyndon B. Johnson handing a pen to John Lewis as others look on.

Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Rights Activism

with Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Learn more about the impact of civil rights organizations on securing civil rights legislation and growing grassroots power.

Video

AP African American Studies Resource Library

“M. L. King Meets Nixon in Ghana”

1957

“Mother Hale’s Garden”

by Shinique Smith

“Urban Garden Rail”

by Saya Woolfalk

Both Black and Disabled: Intersectional Experiences

by Jenifer L. Barclay

The Freedmen’s Bureau and African American Families

by Justene Hill Edwards

“Nichelle Nichols: Woman on a NASA Mission”

by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

March on Washington Route Map

1963

The Exodusters and Black Towns, ca. 1900

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

The Betrayal of Emancipation

by Thomas J. Davis

Resistance and Resilience: Black Service in World War I

with Adriane Lentz-Smith

March on Washington Organizing Document

1963

Nonviolent Resistance and Civil Rights Activism

with Hasan Kwame Jeffries

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