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

A handwritten letter in cursive

An Account of the Stono Rebellion

1739

Explore James Oglethorpe’s account of the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina.

Primary Source

Two maps of Africa identifying the territory of empires ca. 1000 BC–AD 1000 and ca. AD 1000–AD 1900, along with a timeline of these empires

Kingdoms and Empires in Africa, ca. 1000 BC–AD 1900

by Michael Siegel, Rutgers Cartography

Visualize the geography and chronology of African kingdoms and empires through this map.

Thematic Map

Color portrait of a smiling, bare-chested Black man, with grayscale vignettes of the same man shown in a boxing ring facing an opponent, and standing facing out wearing boxing shorts and gloves; at the top are the words "Jack Johnson: The Galveston Giant"

Jack Johnson

by Eddie Flier

View this artistic homage to boxing champion Jack Johnson.

Work of Art

A black-and-white photograph of a serious young Black man in a military uniform (dark coat, white gloves, light-colored pants with a dark racing stripe) holding a sheathed sword

Photograph of Charles Remond Douglass

ca. 1864

Frederick Douglass’s youngest son served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.

Secondary Source

Color-coded map of Africa noting different vegetation zones

Vegetation of Africa

by Exploring Africa, Michigan State University

Visualize the varied vegetation zones of the African continent.

Thematic Map

A Black woman wearing a polka-dot dress and wearing an American flag pin on her right breast.

Ambrotype of African American Woman with Flag

1860s

This ambrotype features a woman believed to be a washerwoman for Union troops near Richmond, Virginia.

Primary Source

A watercolor showing enslaved people picking cotton with an overseer nearby

Painting of a Plantation

ca. 1860

Explore an artist’s depiction of enslavement.

Secondary Source

A Black man wearing a dark coat speaking into a bullhorn megaphone held in his left hand, while his right arm is outstretched with a clenched fist. A crowd looks on and raises their right fists in the air. There is a sign reading "Viva La Huelga" in the left midground.

Black Student Union Strike for Black Studies at San Francisco State College

1968

See the student protests that led to the first Black Studies department and gave rise to the field of African American studies.

Primary Source

A hand-colored lithograph showing enslaved Black men and women cut sugar cane and load the bundles or junks into a horse-drawn cart. A White man on a horse speaks to a Black overseer. Includes cutting bills or knives, coconut palms, and a windmill in the distance.

Sugar Cane Harvest, Antigua, West Indies

1823

View this depiction of enslavement in the Caribbean.

Primary Source

A typed list of Black and Puerto Rican Studies courses for the Fall 1972 semester, pale blue ink on white copy paper

Schedule of Courses for Black and Puerto Rican Studies

1972

View one of Hunter College‘s earliest African American Studies course catalogs.

Primary Source

An ivory and metal mask of a woman, with a tiara and necklace

Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba

16th Century

View a mask that was a symbol of the wealth of Benin in this period.

Primary Source

A port in a medieval city, with Black and White people on boats and walking about on land

“Chafariz d’El Rei” [The King’s Fountain]

ca. 1570–1580

Explore the role of Africans in Portugal in the sixteenth century through this painting and essay.

Work of Art