• How did Africans live their lives in freedom before becoming enslaved?
• What aspects of slavery did freed men and women emphasize when relating their experiences?
• How did individual African Americans define and exercise selfhood?
• How did enslaved African Americans envision and pursue freedom?

"The Making of African American Identity: Volume I, 1500-1865" was made possible by a grant from the Wachovia Foundation.

• What did freedom mean to the newly freed?
• What roles did institutions play in African American life at this time?
• What forms of political action did African Americans initiate? For what goals?
• How did African Americans create a "usable past" to nourish their future?

"The Making of African American Identity: Volume II, 1865-1917" was made possible by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

• What constitutes segregation? How did African Americans experience it?
• What migrations did African Americans undertake in the twentieth century?
• What forms did African American protest take during this period? How did protest strategies and goals evolve over time?
• How have changing notions of African American identity affected definitions of Black community?

"The Making of African American Identity: Volume III, 1917-1968" was made possible by a grant from the Wachovia Foundation.