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

A black-and-white photograph of Black men in WWII aviator uniforms sitting, their attention directed out of frame.

African Americans’ Involvement in World War II

by Marcus S. Cox

Learn more about how the Double V campaign was made manifest at home and abroad.

Essay

A black-and-white engraving of Black men and women in states of ecstatic prayer (kneeling, prostrating, some with arms outstretched) at the feet of a preacher standing in a canopied dais with right arm raised.

The Origins of African American Musical Traditions

with Portia K. Maultsby

Explore the building blocks of African American music and performance.

Video

A color photograph of large number of students on a campus pathway, flanked at either end by brick gates. In front of them are campus police officers in uniform, some wearing helmets.

The Continuum of Athletic Activism

with Len Elmore

Learn about how Elmore’s time in the ABA and NBA coincided with a larger history of athletes responding to political issues.

Video

Color postcard of people shopping from items in baskets on a streetside market with the text "Scene in the Green Market, Halifax, N.S." printed at the bottom.

Hockey Clubs in Black Communities

with George and Darril Fosty

Learn more about hockey as a place of Black community organization.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Carter G. Woodson, a Black man, wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and polka-dotted tie.

The Black Diaspora and African American Studies

with Jo Von McCalester

Learn how Carter Woodson, W. E. B. Du Bois, and others developed the foundations of African American Studies.

Video

A color photograph of two Black teammates from the Oakland Raiders in the team uniform kneeling on one knee as coaches and staff around them stand with right hands over their hearts.

Athletes in Protest

with Kevin Blackistone

Learn about the long path to protests led by Colin Kaepernick and their aftermath.

Video

A color photograph of a bronze statue of Octavius V. Catto in a three-piece suit and bowtie, leaning forward, hands open, in the courtyard of Philadelphia City Hall.

Using Sports to Contest Discrimination

with Kevin Blackistone

Learn about the long history of Black athletes using sports as a platform to advocate for racial equality.

Video

Image of a Benjamin Banneker postal stamp featuring a portrait of Banneker with a smaller, full-body illustration of Banneker with a telescope in the foreground.

African American Scientists

with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Learn more about some of the most notable African American scientists and their discoveries, from Benjamin Banneker to Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Video

A white historical marker with black text for Benjamin Banneker's birthplace and home.

Benjamin Banneker on Solar Eclipses

1789

Read Banneker’s letter analyzing the science of eclipses.

Primary Source

Drawing of various sections of the cicada.

Benjamin Banneker’s Study of the Cicada

1800

Read Banneker’s derivation of the seventeen-year cycle of the cicada, one of the first scientists to make this observation.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photogrpah of Fidel Castro (a dark-haired, bearded, light-skinned Latino man wearing a dark shirt and pants) and Malcolm X (a light-skinned Black man wearing horn-rimmed glasses, a dark trench coat, and a white shirt and dark tie) smiling while sitting on a bed in a hotel room.

Diasporic Solidarity and the Cuban Revolution

with Danielle Pilar Clealand

Learn more about the African American community’s response to the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s and 1960s.

Video

A color photograph of a multicolored mural featuring images of crowds of protesters, Yuri Kochiyama (a Japanese American woman depicted wearing a red shirt and white bandana) speaking into a megaphone, and Malcolm X (a Black man depicted wearing a light-colored suit, blue shirt, and red tie and holding a newspaper). Above them is a depiction of Earth flanked by bridges.

Black and Latino Solidarity Movements

with Danielle Pilar Clealand

Learn more about Chicano, Puerto Rican, and other solidarity movements and their relation to the Black freedom struggle.

Video

AP African American Studies Resource Library

African Americans’ Involvement in World War II

by Marcus S. Cox

The Origins of African American Musical Traditions

with Portia K. Maultsby

The Continuum of Athletic Activism

with Len Elmore

Hockey Clubs in Black Communities

with George and Darril Fosty

The Black Diaspora and African American Studies

with Jo Von McCalester

Athletes in Protest

with Kevin Blackistone

Using Sports to Contest Discrimination

with Kevin Blackistone

African American Scientists

with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Benjamin Banneker on Solar Eclipses

1789

Benjamin Banneker’s Study of the Cicada

1800

Diasporic Solidarity and the Cuban Revolution

with Danielle Pilar Clealand

Black and Latino Solidarity Movements

with Danielle Pilar Clealand

Stay up to date and subscribe to our emails.