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

Etching of Rev. Richard Allen, wearing a jacket and white shirt and looking directly ahead.

Richard Allen, Jarena Lee, and the Second Great Awakening

by Margaret Washington

Read about the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Essay

Scan of the first page of the report titled "Voting Restrictions in the 13 Southern States", featuring a map of the United States with 13 Southern states highlighted in red.

Voting restrictions for African Americans

1944

Investigate a pamphlet that documented cases of voter suppression in southern states written by a group of southern editors and writers.

Primary Source

Black and white photo of a middle-aged Black woman with shoulder length hair and wearing a large white flower pin being sworn in as the borough president of Manhattan.

Constance Baker Motley: A Trailblazer in the Legal Profession

by Gary L. Ford, Jr.

Read about the life and work of Constance Baker Motley, the only woman who argued desegregation cases in courts in the racially segregated South during the Civil Rights Movement from 1946 to 1964.

Essay

The Heart and Soul of Fannie Lou Hamer

by Earnest N. Bracey

Read about the life and advocacy about Civil Rights leader and National Women’s Political Caucus cofounder Fannie Lou Hamer.

Essay

Read an overview of the landmark moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the twentieth century.

Ten Ways to Teach Rosa Parks

by Jeanne Theoharis and Say Burgin

Read about ten common misconceptions about Civil Rights legend Rosa Parks.

Essay

A shirtless Black African royal holding a staff with two spear heads, wearing a red and blue tiered hat with fur flowing down the headpiece, gold armlets, bracelets, and anklets, and a blue loincloth with a long train.

The Catholic Church in Kongo

by John K. Thornton

Explore the history of Catholic conversion and syncretic practices in the kingdom of Kongo.

Essay

Black women wearing white shirts (with a blue ridged neckline) and blue skirts, and Black men in white shirts, white pants, and brown hats, cutting sugar cane.

Sexuality and Slavery: Reclaiming Intimate Histories in the Americas

with Daina Ramey Berry and Leslie Harris

Learn how sexuality was a point of both exploitation and resistance for enslaved people.

Video

A Black woman with braided hair smiling while wearing a white shirt with a floral print.

Black Women and Educational Activism in Antebellum America

with Kabria Baumgartner

Explore how antebellum Black women became educators and activists, and the story of the first integrated classroom in the US.

Video

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

with Jeanne Theoharis

Learn how examining Rosa Parks’s life challenges perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the civil rights movement.

Video

Photograph of Prof. Keisha Blain, a Black professor, smiling while wearing a white jacket over a textured green shirt, black glasses, and gold earrings.

Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America

with Keisha N. Blain

Explore Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and civil rights organizing career.

Video

Matthew Delmont smiling while wearing a light blue checked shirt.

The Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

with Matthew F. Delmont

Learn more about the history of World War II from the perspective of African Americans.

Video

A Black woman with black curly hair and red lipstick smiles at the camera. She wears a collared blue patterned shirt, and a suit jacket.

A History of the Enslaved Black Family

with Brenda Stevenson

Learn about the history of the Black family from the Middle Passage through Reconstruction.

Video

AP African American Studies Resource Library