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

A photograph of a bronze cast sculpture titled "Emancipation." The sculpture depicts male and female figures emerging from the tree of knowledge at the center.

Shaping the Public Imagination: The Sculpture of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

by Chenoa Baker

Read about the life and art of Fuller and some of her more famous pieces.

Essay

Laura Wheeler Waring, a Black woman, wearing an artist's smock and painting a portrait of a man with her right hand while holding a palette in her left. On the walls behind her are other portraits and artwork.

Laura Wheeler Waring: A Luminous Palette

by Cherene Sherrard-Johnson

Learn more about Laura Wheeler Waring’s portraiture, highlighting her luminous palette and contributions to African American art history.

Essay

Black-and-white photograph of an art gallery, with three men standing in the gallery: a white man in his Coast Guard captain uniform of dark double-breasted coat, white shirt, dark tie, and white cap with a dark brim); at center, a white man in a dark suit, light colored shirt, and dark tie; and at right, a Black man in his Coast Guard sailor uniform of dark shirt (with gold bands on the sleeves) and pants, light-colored scarf, and dark beret.

The Cubist Collage Aesthetic and the Historical Narratives of Jacob Lawrence

by Patricia Hills

Read more about Jacob Lawrence’s use of cubist collage aesthetics to depict historical narratives in his artwork.

Essay

Bert Williams, a Black man, wearing a black coat and white collar.

Representation on the Stage, Screen, and Airwaves

by Kenya Davis-Hayes

Explore the history of Black performance from Reconstruction through the 1960s.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a young Black girl wearing a white dress, dark sweater, and dark socks and shoes, jumping rope as other Black children look on.

The Great Migration and the Making of Modern America

by Davarian L. Baldwin

Explore the impact of the “Exodus from Dixie.”

Essay

Map of the Kongo River.

Afonso and the Slave Trade

by John K. Thornton

Explore the origins and evolution of the slave trade in Kongo and Portugal.

Essay

Map of Africa in tan, with arrows in black, red, green, and yellow showing the spread of Christianity and Islam, Bantu migrations, and trade routes within and beyond the continent

Migrations in Ancient African History

from Exploring Africa, African Studies Center

Explore the spread of Bantu languages, Christianity, and Islam and trade routes throughout African kingdoms.

Thematic Map

A typed list of Black and Puerto Rican Studies courses for the Fall 1972 semester, pale blue ink on white copy paper

Schedule of Courses for Black and Puerto Rican Studies

1972

View one of Hunter College‘s earliest African American Studies course catalogs.

Primary Source

An ivory and metal mask of a woman, with a tiara and necklace

Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba

16th Century

View a mask that was a symbol of the wealth of Benin in this period.

Primary Source

Stylized clay sculpture of an armored soldier on a horse

Mali Equestrian Figure

13th–15th Century

View this sculpture of a horseman with a quiver, an artifact of the Mali empire.

Primary Source

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

Triple Crucifix

1500s–1800s

View this example of syncretic religious practice in the kingdom of Kongo.

Primary Source

Queen Nzinga, at right, wearing a gold crown, pink bandeau, pink, blue, and red skirt, and holding a multicolored bow and arrow, followed by an entourage of shirtless men and women.

Queen Nzinga with Military Entourage

1665–1668

View this depiction of Queen Nzinga (also spelled Njinga) from the viewpoint of an Italian missionary in Matamba.

Primary Source