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

Langston Hughes, a Black man, wearing a dark suit, dark tie, and white shirt.

“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”

1926

Read Langston Hughes's essay on the limits placed on Black poets and writers during this period.

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Booker T. Washington, a Black man, wearing a light colored jacket, vest, and pants, white shirt, and black bow tie.

The Atlanta Exposition Address

1895

Read and listen to Booker T. Washington's speech to a predominantly White audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta.

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The top of a print of five portraits in connected ovals, two portraits, then one portrait, then two portraits. In this crop, only the top three circles are visible. All five are of Black men who served in the US Congress immediately following ratification of the 15th Amendment during the Reconstruction era.

African American Members of Congress

1884

View this depiction of five African Americans elected to Congress.

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A shirtless and shoeless Black man wearing white pants and a sword along his right leg while brandishing a rifle with both hands and identified as "Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons."

“Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons”

1769

View a depiction of a maroon community leader.

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A stipple portrait of a mustachioed man identified as "Negro Abraham" wearing a fringed coat and turban, holding a staff in his right hand

“Negro Abraham”

1863

View a depiction of a Black Seminole leader.

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An engraving of a Black man identified as "Gopher John." wearing a feathered headdress and tunic. standing on a riverbank as two people paddle a canoe in the background

“Gopher John, Seminole Interpreter”

1863

View a depiction of this Seminole leader and interpreter.

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Alain Locke, a Black man, wearing a white suit, vest, and shirt, and a dark tie.

“Negro Youth Speaks”

1925

Read an excerpt from Alain Locke’s book The New Negro, a cornerstone of the New Negro movement.

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The head of Countee Cullen, a Black man, with a stylized drawing of his shirtfront (white shirt, black bow tie).

“Heritage” by Countee Cullen

1925

Take a deep dive into Countee Cullen’s vision of Africa through this poem.

Primary Source

A lobby card for the movie "The Betrayal". The card is comprised of a black-and-white image of a man and woman standing in a room in front of another man lying on the carpet on the floor. The man on the floor appears to be dead. The woman is wearing a dark shiny dress and is holding a gun at her side in her left hand. Her right hand is resting on her chest and her face appears to be in a state of shock. The man standing next to her is wearing a light colored suit and hat and is extending his hand toward her

Lobby card for “The Betrayal”

1948

View a lobby card from Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s last film.

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Several Black men in three rows (sitting, kneeling, standing), all in dark flight suits, boots, and goggled helmets, in front of biplanes. Some men's signatures are next to their photograph.

Flight Instructors at Tuskegee Army Air Field

1945

View this photograph of the Tuskegee Airmen near the end of World War II.

Three bathroom doors, labeled "Ladies," "Men," and "Colored."

Segregated Restrooms

ca. 1960

View an example of the impact of Jim Crow.

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Approximately thirty-five Black boys and young men standing in a field, wearing striped prison jumpsuits and caps, with shackles linked to belts around their waists, and holding hoes.

“Juvenile Convicts at Work in the Fields”

1903

View a photograph of juvenile convict laborers.

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