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

A color photograph of the hallway of Harvard Law School's library, flanked on either side by columns and bookshelves.

From the NBA to Assistant DA

with Len Elmore

Learn about a unique path from the NBA, to Harvard Law School, to the legal profession, in this interview.

Video

A color photograph of a college-aged Len Elmore kneeling on a basketball court wearing a red Maryland collared shirt, white pants, and white sneakers, his right hand on a basketball and resting his left elbow on his left knee.

Basketball and Activism in the 1970s and 1980s

with Len Elmore

Learn about the career path of a former ABA and NBA player.

Video

A color photograph of a military flyover above the Air Force Academy football stadium on a sunny day.

A Thematic Conversation with Col. Chris Howard

2025

Learn more about Lt. Col. Howard’s career in the military and higher education, and the impact of student athletics on his path.

Video

A color photograph of Rodney Lewis, a Black man, in Air Force dress uniform with decoration ribbons on his left breast and the American flag behind him.

A Thematic Conversation with Gen. Rodney D. Lewis

2025

Learn about Gen. Lewis’s career in the Air Force and his place in the history of Black aviation.

Video

A color photograph of Harry Edwards, a smiling bald Black man with a gray beard, wearing sunglasses and a dark Nehru jacket.

The Olympic Project for Human Rights

with William C. Rhoden

Learn more about athletic protests in the 1960s and their modern reverberations.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Black and white soldiers on decks of a large ship.

360th [or 366th] Colored Regiment Arriving in New York

1919

See an example of Black service in World War I.

Primary Source

A color print of Wilberforce University showing seven small tan and white buildings and a large T-shaped white building with a brown roof surrounding a quadrangle of lawns, paths, and trees.

The Founding of Black Colleges

by Jelani M. Favors

Learn more about the birth and evolution of historically Black colleges and universities.

Essay

A hand-colored map of the world in two hemispheres, with routes of the African slave trade and a star on the state of Georgia.

The Color Line and “Double Consciousness”

by Trudier Harris

Examine the importance of “the mask,” “the veil,” and “the color line” in works by Dunbar, Du Bois, and Ellison.

Essay

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

Lines of women primarily in white dresses and hats marching in formation. Between the first and second lines, a man in a dark suit and hat holds a sign reading "RACE PREJUDICE IS THE OFFSPRING OF IGNORANCE AND THE MOTHER OF LYNCHING."

The New York Silent Protest Parade in Photographs

1917

Explore this response to white supremacist violence led by the NAACP.

Primary Source

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