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

Scan of a black and white photograph of a mix of Black men, women, and children and a few white men and women, some carrying American flags, walking through a town.

The Civil Rights Movement

by Taylor Branch

Read an essay taking a bird's-eye view of the Civil Rights Movement.

Essay

Two Black men stand talking on either side of a large sign reading "National Headquarters/March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom/Wed. Aug. 28".

The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies

by James T. Patterson

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

Essay

Photograph of large sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. carved out of stone.

A Place in History: Historical Perspective on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

by James Oliver Horton

Read about the historical context for the formation of the modern civil rights movement and leadership.

Essay

A group of five Black men and women hold hands and sing with a white man and woman inside a church.

Different Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement

by Anthony J. Badger

Read about the different ways historians have challenged the dominant narrative of the Civil Rights movement since the 1960s.

Essay

A large stone building with "MUNICIPAL BUILDING" carved above the front doors and flags of North Carolina, the United States, and Wilson on poles above the entrance.

The Civil Rights Act and the Pursuit of Greater Freedom

by Charles W. McKinney

Read about civil rights protests in the small town of Wilson, North Carolina, in the 1960s.

Essay

A color photograph of a corner store with a two-toned green wall with two signs, one reading "Wadajir Grocery, Finest Halal Meats" and the other "Mediterranean Deli, Best Gyros in Town"

Diversity in Contemporary Black Communities

by Mamadi Corra

Learn more about shifts in the foreign-born Black population and its consequent impacts on the diversity of African Americans today.

Essay

Scan of FDR's letter to Joseph Curran, typewritten on White House stationery.

FDR on Racial Discrimination

1942

Read a transcription and a bit of historical context behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s letter to Joseph Curran concerning Executive Order 8802 and discrimination against Black sailors.

Primary Source

Scan of the broadside, reading I AM A MAN in bold black letters with "AM" underlined.

Civil Rights Posters

1968

Explore the historical context behind two posters from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike.

Primary Source

AP African American Studies Resource Library