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

A black-and-white photograph of a Black man wearing a dark top hat and suit riding a horse leading a procession including a band of musicians down a dirt road

Freedom Days in American History

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Learn more about the long history of celebrating emancipation, from January 1, to August 1, to Juneteenth.

Video

Detail from a multicolored map depicting enslaved population by county in the South, along with government farms and camps set up by the Union Army during the Civil War.

Emancipation: Separating Myth from Fact

with Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie

Break down common misconceptions about the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment in this video.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of a Black man wearing a light-colored suit and dark bowler hat walking with a cane in his right hand; in the background is rubble of buildings destroyed in the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Tulsa after the Greenwood Massacre

1925–1926

View silent film scenes of Tulsa’s Black institutions and organizations in the mid-1920s.

Video

A color photograph of six golden silhouette statues in a semicircle, behind a fence, with a pedestal below reading "Portsmouth African Burial Ground."

“Petition to New Hampshire State Legislature”

1779

Read a petition for freedom inspired by the American Revolution.

Primary Source

A black-and-white still from a film of a graduation procession of Black men in black caps and gowns with Black women in white dresses behind them.

Graduation Ceremony at Langston University

1925

Watch a silent film of a graduation procession at the only HBCU in Oklahoma.

Video

A color photograph of six standing (and one seated) Black men in suits and ties, in front of a metal sign on a wooden easel reading "Alpha Phi Alpha [in Greek letters]: Gamma Iota Lambda."

Alpha Phi Alpha Records

1956-1979

View a collection of photographs and documents from a New York chapter of this “Divine Nine” Black Greek Letter Organization.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph of a parade; Black women, most wearing white dresses and hats, march in formation in rows of about twenty. Between two groups of women there is a row of four Black men in dark suits, ties, and hats, holding up large American flags. In the first group of women, one woman holds up a sign reading, "YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD."

Negro Silent Protest Petition on Lynching

1917

Read a response from Black leaders to White supremacist violence, two years before Red Summer.

Primary Source

A still from a black-and-white film showing Black men and women, many in straw-boater hats with dark hatbands, marching in a parade. In the foreground is a clarinetist, followed by two American flag bearers marching at the head of the parade.

Juneteenth Flag-Waving Procession, Oklahoma

1920s

See an example of an early twentieth-century Juneteenth celebration in this silent film clip.

Video

A film still of a Black man wearing a light-colored cap and a dark jacket holding a box labeled "Mme. C. J. Walker's Vegetable Shampoo, Indianapolis. Ind., USA."

The Madam C. J. Walker Company on Film

1926

View silent film scenes of Walker’s business empire.

Video

A hand-colored portrait of Sissieretta Jones, a Black woman also known here as The Black Patti and the Greatest Singer of Her Race, wearing a gold necklace and earrings and a white dress covered with medals and ribbons.

“UNLADYLIKE2020: Sissieretta Jones”

with Julianna Margulies

Explore the career of the first African American woman to headline at Carnegie Hall.

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“UNLADYLIKE2020: Gladys Bentley”

with Lorraine Toussaint and Lisa Wilkerson

Learn more about this trailblazing pianist, musician, and drag entertainer.

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Joe Biden, wearing a blue suit, blue dotted tie, and flag lapel pin, standing next to and listening to Opal Lee, a bespectacled Black woman wearing a white shirt and necklace.

Juneteenth: Exploring Freedom’s Stories

by Annenberg Classroom

Explore the history of Juneteenth, from its initial celebration following the Civil War through its enactment as a federal holiday.

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