African American History

Discover the people and events that shaped African American history, from enslavement and activism to the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement.

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers: Black Americans on the Frontier

Maroons and Marronage: Escaping Enslavement

The Negro Motorist Green Book

Martin Luther King on the tarmac in London after deplaning in October 1961

How Martin Luther King Jr. Day Became a Federal Holiday

Statue of Carter G. Woodson

What Is Black History Month and How Did It Begin?

Lit Kinara candles slided apple and ears of corn for Kwanzaa celebration

Kwanzaa: 7 Principles to Honor African Heritage

William Still

Biography of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad

Pan-Africanism Mural

4 Pan-African Leaders You Should Know

Colonist Reading

African Americans in the Revolutionary War

The Apollo Theater in between Banana Republic and GameStop

4 Publications of the Harlem Renaissance

The AME Church on a sunny day.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church

Octavia Butler beside bookcase

Afrofuturism: Imagining an Afrocentric Future

Audre Lorde

Women of the Black Arts Movement

6 Revealing Autobiographies by African American Thinkers

Mary Mcleod Bethune: Educator and Civil Rights Leader

Banned Books by African-American Authors

Lucy Prince, Anthony Benezet and Absalom Jones

Black American Firsts of the 18th Century

African-American Businesswomen in the Jim Crow Era

Famous Players in the Negro Baseball Leagues

Actor, film director, author and diplomat Sidney Poitier, African-American jazz vocalist, songwriter and actress Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Lauri Peters, Nan Martin and Carroll OConnor during filming of the movie For Love Of Ivy, August 31, 1968.

Black American Firsts in Film and Theatre

Protesters at the Open Housing March, Chicago

How the Definition of African American History Has Evolved

Black Civil Rights

The Black Struggle for Freedom

Hip Hop Culture Timeline: 1970 to 1983

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller sits on a wicker chair, poised for a photo

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller: Visual Artist of the Harlem Renaissance

African-American Playwrights

Illustration depicting violence of Nat Turner's Rebellion

The Story of Nat Turner's Rebellion

Full color drawing of Nat Turner and other slaves in a forested area.

3 Major Ways Enslaved People Showed Resistance to a Life in Bondage

Illustration of abolitionist pamphlets being burned in South Carolina.

Abolitionist Pamphlet Campaign

Artist's depiction of enslaved people escaping from Maryland on the Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad

Illustration of a fugitive slave being seized.

Fugitive Slave Act

Sojourner Truth

How Women Abolitionists Fought Enslavement

United States, 1821

The Missouri Compromise

Engraved portrait of abolitionist fanatic John Brown

Biography of John Brown

Illustrations of 4 causes of the Civil War: economic, states rights, slavery, and election of Lincoln

What Were the Top Causes of the Civil War?

Engraved print of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.

Background and Significance of the Emancipation Proclamation

African-American sharecroppers working in the field.

The Black Codes and Why They Still Matter Today

Thaddeus Stevens speaking at President Johnson's impeachment trial

The Powerful Congressional Faction That Championed Reconstruction

1930s KU KLUX KLKKK.

Timeline History of the Ku Klux Klan

W. E. B. DuBois wearing glasses, seated at a table, looking at paperwork

The Origins, Purpose, and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism

Zora Neale Hurston and friends, black and white photograph.

5 Leaders of the Harlem Renaissance

Image of the Harlem Hellfighters standing in formation

The Role of Black Americans in World War I

"End The New Jim Crow."

Understanding Jim Crow Laws

The Chicago Defender newspaper with headline "PUSHing Forward"

The Power of the Press: Black American News Publications in the Jim Crow Era

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking before crowd of 25,000 Selma to Montgomery, Ala., civil rights marchers, 1965

A Profile of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

MLK with members of SNCC

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Role in Civil Rights

Rosa Parks on bus

Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1951 to 1959

President Lyndon Johnson shakes hands with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., after handing him one of the pens used in signing the Civil Rights Act of July 2, 1964 at the White House in Washington.

Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1960 to 1964

Montgomery March

Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969

A redlining map of New Orleans

The History of Redlining

Berkeley Students Protest Repeal of Affirmative Action

5 Key Events in Affirmative Action History

Washington D. C.

A Short History of the War on Drugs

Black Lives Matter protesters

5 Common Misconceptions About Black Lives Matter

Racism Protest

Guide to Being an Anti-Racism Activist

Photograph of Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers kneeling during the national anthem.

Kneeling During the National Anthem: History of the Peaceful Protest

Black Panther Bobby Seale

Biography of Activist Bobby Seale

Poet, playwright, and activist Amiri Baraka

Biography of Amiri Baraka

'Assata Shakur is Welcome Here' Public Demonstration Hosted by Talib and Mos Def

Biography of Assata Shakur

Chicago Police killed Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton when he was just 21 years old.

Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader

Ma Rainey In Chicago

Biography of Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues

photo of Huey Newton in a holding cell

Biography of Huey Newton, Co-Founder of the Black Panthers

Activist Stokely Carmichael at a 1966 press conference

Biography of Stokely Carmichael, Civil Rights Activist

Shirley Chisholm At Protest

10 of the Most Important Black Women in U.S. History

Site of Stono Rebellion, near Charleston, SC

Black History Timeline: 1700 - 1799

U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens running ahead of two other runners

Black History Timeline: 1930–1939

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