African History, John Henry Clarke, and Slavery in New York

A comprehensive collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, African musical culture, and museum exhibits detailing the history of slavery and folk art in New York.

Dr. John Henry Clarke

An influential historian, scholar, and activist dedicated to the intellectual liberation of African people who was primarily self-trained through public libraries and secondhand bookstores before earning his formal academic degrees.

Millers Hill School

The one-room schoolhouse where Dr. John Henry Clarke received his earliest formal schooling.

Evelina Taylor

Dr. John Henry Clarke's fifth-grade foundation teacher who taught him basic good thinking and conduct, encouraging him not to follow others blindly.

Gag Steider

The lawyer for whom young John Henry Clarke worked before and after school, who claimed that Black people came from a people with no history.

The Negro Digs Up His Past

An essay in the book The New Negro through which John Henry Clarke discovered that African people had an ancient history that predated slavery and oppression.

7th Avenue (Adam Powell Boulevard)

The primary street of choice in Harlem where custom dictated that community members dress formally in a coat and tie when strolling on weekends.

Paul Robeson

An artist who sacrificed his career based on the commitment that an artist must use their art to change the society in which they live.

W. E. B. Du Bois

A major intellect produced in the Western world who made monumental contributions to history and African American scholarship.

Kwame Nkrumah

The first president of Ghana, with whom historian Dr. John Henry Clarke worked during his time in Africa.

John Hope Franklin

A prominent historian who authored the first major university textbook on African American history.

Talking Drum

An African musical instrument featured in cultural performances alongside the tall single-skin drum and double iron bell.

Call and Response

A musical structure in African musical performances where an ensemble repeats or answers back to the lead performer.

Remembering Slavery in New York

An exhibition at the New York Historical Society highlighting that slavery existed in New York for nearly two centuries starting from the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam in 1627.

Derek Frazier

The artist who sculpted wire figures representing early enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam whose actual likenesses were not preserved in historical records.

Harriet's Escape

A 2007 sculpture by Alison Saar depicting Harriet Tubman escaping under the moon guided by the North Star, which is part of her memorial monument in Harlem.

African Burial Ground

A historic site in Northern Manhattan that serves as physical evidence of the large African population that lived in colonial New York.

LA and Viola Nattelman Collection

A collection of American folk art started in the 1920s focusing on simple, direct objects created by self-taught artists and artisans.

Studio EIS

The studio that created the 2011 life-size bronze statues of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass located outside the New York Historical Society.

Dred Scott

An enslaved man from Missouri who sued for his freedom, but whose case was rejected by the court on the grounds that he was not considered a citizen.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive declaration during the Civil War that established the end of slavery as a major war goal and permitted Black men to join the Union armed forces.