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

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

Two African American pioneer families in foreground with two children playing on left, two women and a small child near a covered wagon at center and two men drinking coffee around a campfire by a stream.

“Camping Time”

by John Coleman

View a depiction of Black migration during Reconstruction.

Work of Art

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

Sepia photographic portraits of a man and a woman; the woman is wearing a white shirt with checked trim and an earring; the man is bare-chested, with well-defined musculature. Both have traditional scarification on their cheeks.

“Escrava Mina” and “Escravo Mina”

1864

View two photographs of enslaved people in Brazil.

Primary Source

Map of the United States Midwest with bar charts noting change in population over time for select cities.

“African American Population in Selected Cities, 1900–1920”

by Michael Siegel and Rutgers Cartography

Visualize some of the impact of the first wave of the Great Migration.

Thematic Map

Two African American men sitting in front of a tent, one with cigar and the other with a soup ladle.

African Americans and the Civil War

with Elizabeth R. Varon

Learn more about free and enslaved Africans’ contributions to the Union war effort.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Robert Smalls, a goateed Black man, seated, wearing a dark jacket, bow tie, and vest (with pocket watch chain), and a white shirt.

Beyond the Battlefield: African American Contributions to the Civil War

with Elizabeth R. Varon

Learn more about the men, women, and children who contributed to the war effort through various means.

Video

A page from a book with the title "The Statues at Large" in large, gothic font.

Legislating Reproduction and Racial Difference

from Women and the American Story, The New York Historical

Take a deep dive into the legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem.

Essay

Image of man sitting and posing for a black and white photograph.

“Hidden Practices”: Frederick Douglass on Segregation and Black Achievement, 1887

by Edward L. Ayers

Analyze a letter written by Frederick Douglass describing his feelings on Black progress.

Essay

A smiling white-haired Black woman in a dark dress sitting with her hands clasped in her lap in an elaborately carved high-backed wooden chair

The Slave Narratives: A Genre and a Source

by David W. Blight

Examine narratives such as Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in this essay.

Essay

A map of the coast of Liberia, with the Atlantic Ocean appearing diagonally in the middle of the map.

The First Age of Reform

by Ronald G. Walters

Learn more about the debates related to colonization in the context of other antebellum reform movements.

Essay

A photograph of a Black Civil War Union soldier in uniform in a rounded rectangular frame.

African Americans and Emancipation

by Manisha Sinha

Explore the role of military service during the Civil War on emancipation and abolition.

Essay