African American Archives

A broadside distributed by Benjamin Singleton advertising migration to Kansas, 1878.

April 15, 1878: Real Estate and Homestead Association Relocated

The Real Estate and Homestead Association helped organize travel and settlement for African Americans, “Exodusters,” who fled the South because of racial violence and “bulldozing” by white supremacist groups.

April 18, 1877: Nicodemus Town Company Founded

Six Black Kansans and a white developer created the Nicodemus Town Company. With the goal of establishing an all-Black settlement on the Great Plains, W. H. Smith and W. R. Hill advertised the town as a haven for Black migrants.

I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction

Book — Non-fiction. By Kidada E. Williams. 2024. 384 pages.
An account of the brutal white supremacist violence and terror that formerly enslaved people were faced with during Reconstruction.

Our Kind of Historian: The Work and Activism of Lerone Bennett Jr.

Book — Non-fiction. By E. James West. 2022. 328 pages.
This biography examines the life of historian and activist Lerone Bennett Jr. and his influence on African American culture and history.

July 20, 1967: Newark Black Power Conference Begins

More than 1,000 delegates representing 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities in 26 states, Bermuda, and Nigeria gathered at the National Conference on Black Power in Newark, New Jersey.

May 27, 1972: First African Liberation Day Demonstration on the National Mall

The first African Liberation Day drew some 60,000 demonstrators in cities across the United States and Canada, including one on the National Mall in Washington D. C.

Feb. 20, 1865: Black Town of Princeville, N. Carolina Founded

Princeville, North Carolina originated as a resettlement community for freed people and became the oldest incorporated city chartered by African Americans in the United States.

Being Clem

Book — Fiction. By Lesa Cline-Ransome. 2021. 256 pages.
The final novel in the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy, this novel examines mid-twentieth century America through the eyes of Clem, a young boy whose family is torn apart after his father's untimely death.

Teaching Activity by Lesa Cline-Ransome

I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land

Book - Non-fiction. By Alaina E. Roberts. 224 pages. 2021.
Through chapters that chart cycles of dispossession, land seizure, and settlement in Indian Territory, Alaina E. Roberts connects debates about Black freedom and Native American citizenship to westward expansion onto Native land.

Teaching A People’s History of the March on Washington

Teaching Activity. By Jessica Lovaas and Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 2021. Updated in 2023.
A lesson with case studies from Los Angeles; Birmingham, Alabama; Brooklyn; Detroit; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Albany, Georgia; and Cambridge, Maryland — to introduce students to the diverse struggles across the United States that were represented at the March on Washington.

Teaching Activity by Adam Sanchez

No More Police: A Case for Abolition

Book — Non-fiction. By Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie. 2022. 400 pages.
No More Police calls on us to turn away from systems that perpetrate violence in the name of ending it toward a world where violence is the exception, and safe, well-resourced and thriving communities are the rule.

Teaching Activity by Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie

Nov. 15, 1842: Slave Revolt at Webbers Falls

The Slave Revolt of 1842 — when dozens of enslaved Black people in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma fought back and briefly escaped from their Cherokee overseers — was the largest rebellion of enslaved people in Indian Territory history.

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

Book — Non-fiction. By Linda Villarosa. 2023. 288 pages.
This book details racial health disparities in the United States.

Teaching Activity by Linda Villarosa

The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Thulani Davis. 2022. 464 pages.
The author traces how people newly freed from bondage created political organizations and connections that mobilized communities across the South during Reconstruction, building on a long tradition of organizing against all odds.

Teaching Activity by Thulani Davis

From Florida to Oregon: Reconstruction Throughout the United States

Most state standards and textbooks frame Reconstruction as a Southern story, but grassroots struggles for justice met resistance in the North and to the west. That is why one of the recommendations in our report, Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle is to “Emphasize the significance of Reconstruction throughout the United States.”

How Should Rosa Parks’s Legacy Be Memorialized?

This lesson by Cierra Kaler-Jones invites students to consider how Rosa Parks’ legacy is memorialized by critically examining her statue at the U.S. Capitol. Students learn the fuller story of Rosa Parks’ life and use that information to determine how they would memorialize her legacy.

Oct. 15, 1968: Wyomia Tyus Sets Olympic Records

At the XIX Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968, Wyomia Tyus became the first person to win gold medals in the 100-meter sprint in two consecutive Olympics. She was also participating in Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) protest.

Rosa Parks: Countering the Master Narrative

Teaching Activity. By Jesse Hagopian. 4 pages.
With a short video and readings with competing viewpoints, students will learn about master narratives and counter-narratives and how they apply to Rosa Parks’ life. This activity can be introduced before watching the film or reading the book, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.