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

An engraving of Frederick Douglass as a young man, wearing a double-breasted jacket, vest or waistcoat, and scarf, looking fiercely into the camera

Activist for Equality: Frederick Douglass at 200

1808–1894

Explore Frederick Douglass’s life in bondage and freedom in this online exhibition.

Interactive

Three Black men sit along a wall. One holds a sign that reads "We march together/ Catholic, Jews, Protestant/ for dignity an brotherhood of all men under God now!"

“A Vote-less People Is a Hopeless People”: Lessons from Selma

by Robert A. Pratt

Learn about the history and legacy of the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Essay

A typewritten speech entitled "The Mission of the War"

Frederick Douglass and the Dawn of Reconstruction

by Douglas R. Egerton

Explore Douglass's belief in the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation on Reconstruction.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a finely dressed, bearded, dark-haired Frederick Douglass looking sternly in three-quarter view

Douglass and the US Constitution: The Dred Scott Decision

by Randall Kennedy

Explore Frederick Douglass‘s response to the Dred Scott case.

Essay

A letter written in cursive on stationery from Cedar Hill, Washington, DC

Frederick Douglass: An Example for the Twenty-First Century

by Noelle N. Trent

Explore Douglass’s legacy in this essay.

Essay

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

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