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

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

The image is a sepia-toned portrait of Ida B. Wells, the African American journalist, activist, and anti-lynching crusader. She is shown from the chest up, wearing a high-collared, intricately embroidered lace dress with ruffled details. Her hair is styled in an elegant updo, and she has a composed, determined expression while gazing slightly to the side. The soft lighting and classic photographic style suggest it was taken in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The Persistence of Ida B. Wells: Reform Leader and Civil Rights Activist

by Kristina DuRocher

Learn more about Wells’s fight against lynching, her journalism, and her leadership in the civil rights movement.

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

Water-color nautical chart of the African continent including a skyline of an ancient African empire flanked by palm trees.

The Discovery of the Americas and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

by Ira Berlin

Explore the origins of the transatlantic slave trade and the plantation system.

Essay

A photograph of a Black woman with black curly hair and large hoop earrings, wearing a blue flowered blouse and a cerulean ascot posed in front of a window.

“What Is Slavery?”

with Brenda Stevenson

Explore how the globalization of trade propelled the business of slavery.

Video

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

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. smiling and talking with each other while a police escort stands near.

The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

with Peniel Joseph

Dive into the lives and work of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Video

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

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America

with Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Explore the history of race, crime, and modern US history.

Video

A Black woman with reddish-brown hair and hands together at the front of her body, wearing a white shirt, black-and-white striped blazer, and earrings.

Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence

with Kellie Carter Jackson

Explore the history of Black abolitionism in the antebellum period.

Video

Image of the National Museum of African American History and Culture with the Washington Monument in the distance.

Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture

with Lonnie Bunch

Learn about the significance and creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Video

Marcus Nevius wearing a checked-stripe sport coat with a lapel pin over a gray turtleneck.

City of Refuge

with Marcus P. Nevius

Explore the history of freed peoples in the Great Dismal Swamp and their relationship to maroon communities.

Video