schomburgcenter.org

03 the Schomburg legacy

04 Art and Artifacts

06 Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference

08 Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books

10 Moving Image and Recorded Sound

12 Photographs and Prints

14 education at the schomburg

15 fellowships and institutes

16 public programs

17 innovative Exhibitions

18 Digital Schomburg

19 Membership and Support

table of contents

T he Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, located in Harlem, New York, is a

research unit of The New York Public Library system. It is recognized as the world’s leading repository focusing on materials related to the global black experience. We serve an array of functions—from international research institute to cultural center, museum, and performing arts venue. Our dedication to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of black life, history, and culture stems from the tradition set forth by our namesake, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

From his birth in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1874 to his death in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938, Arturo Schomburg led an admirable life, leaving behind an indelible legacy. Known best as a bibliophile, Schomburg was an avid scholar, writer, educator, and anticolonial revolutionary.

Determined to prove to the world that black people had a history and to illustrate the achievements of black men and women, Schomburg collected black-related books and other materials such as manuscripts, prints, pamphlets, newspapers, and ephemera. He acquired materials from bookstores and antique shops, seeking insight from his network of friends, colleagues, artists, intellectuals, and fellow bibliophiles. Schomburg developed relationships with book dealers from London, Paris, Havana, Madrid, Hamburg, Rome, and the United States.

For nearly 35 years, Schomburg amassed 10,000 items in French, Spanish, and English. As part of his mission to keep his collection accessible, he loaned books from his home, turning down lucrative offers from potential buyers. In addition, Schomburg organized exhibits and displays from his collection for the Negro Society for Historical Research, the American Negro Academy, and The New York Public Library at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.

Schomburg worked closely with the 135th Street Branch of the Library, which emerged in the 1920s as one of the leading cultural centers of the Harlem Renaissance. Concerned with preserving the library’s limited material on the black experience, a community group met in December 1924 to form a plan of action. Members of the citizens committee, headed by Arturo Schomburg and branch librarian Ernestine Rose, included James Weldon Johnson, Hubert Harrison, John E. Bruce, Louise Latimer, and John Nail. They created an organization within the library that would be dedicated to collecting material that related to “the negro race” and established the division of Negro Literature, History and Prints in 1925.

In May 1926, The New York Public Library purchased Schomburg’s collection for its new division at the 135th Street Branch with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation. The collection attracted the attention of scholars, artists, intellectuals, and the general public—both locally and internationally. In 1972, The New York Public Library designated the Schomburg Collection a research library and renamed it the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Today, the Schomburg Center is home to more than 10 million items on the culture and history of black people. For nine decades, the staff have opened the collections to researchers, scholars, artists, teachers, students, and everyday people through research consultations, exhibitions and public programs.

In 2014, the Institute for Museum and Library Services named the Schomburg Center a finalist for its National Medal—the highest honor bestowed upon public libraries and museums.

The Schomburg Legacy

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arturo alfonso schomburg

T he Schomburg’s Art and Artifacts Division is one of the most comprehensive

of its kind in a public research institution. It collects, preserves, documents, and interprets works by and about peoples of African heritage throughout the world. The collection includes fine and applied art and material culture objects from the 17th century to the present, with an emphasis on the visual arts of the 20th century in the United States and Africa. Art and Artifacts encompasses four broad areas: traditional African art; painting and sculpture; works on paper (i.e., drawings, prints, illustrations, posters, and reproductions); and textiles and artifacts.

Especially strong are the holdings of African-American paintings and sculptures of the Harlem Renaissance, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the Black Arts Movement periods, as well as a significant collection of Haitian paintings. Additionally, the Art and Artifacts Division houses the world’s largest collection of sculptures by Richmond Barthé and Augusta Savage. There are also strong holdings of masks, statuary, instruments, and utilitarian objects contained in the Blondiau Theater-Arts and the Harold and Florence Rome collections.

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art andartifacts

Hours Monday–friday 10 A.M.–5:30 P.M.

saturday–sunday closed

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These collections contain old and rare items from Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. African weaponry and bronze adornment items are contained in the Eric DeKolb and Arnold and Joanne Syrop collections, respectively. The Melville and Frances Herskovits collection provides extensive ethnographic documentation from South America and from several West African countries. The Middleton A. “Spike” Harris collection represents one of the leading holdings of antislavery medallions. Museums across the country and world—from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Whitney—borrow from the Art and Artifacts Division.

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T he Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division provides

access to books, journals, newspapers, and microforms containing information by and about people of African descent throughout the world, concentrating on the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts. Geographically, the collection emphasizes the Americas, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Its holdings of 300,000 bound volumes, 25,000 microfilms and microfiches, 750 maps, and 570 newspaper titles date from the late 19th century to the present and are growing continuously.

African, Caribbean, and African-American literature holdings are particularly strong, as are the offerings on the history of the Americas and the New York metropolitan area. Texts on Harlem and blacks in the performing and visual arts are also

substantial. Additionally, Research and Reference maintains a strong retrospective and current collection of African- American, Caribbean, and African newspapers and other serials.

English is the predominant language of the division’s holdings, supplemented by works in French, Portuguese, Spanish, German, and other European languages,

jean blackwellhutson research and reference

Hours Monday noon–6 P.M.

tuesday–thursday noon–8 P.M.

friday–saturday 10 A.M.–6 P.M.

Sunday Closed

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and 200 African languages and dialects. The division also acquires works in bilingual texts and translations of African-American literary classics into Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese.

The best way to search the Research and Reference collection is to use the New York Public Library Catalog (known as the Classic Catalog): catalog.nypl.org and limit the “collection” to the Schomburg Center. We also provide access to more than 300 databases, including Black Studies Center, ProQuest Historical African American Newspapers, Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, JSTOR, Ancestry Library Edition, and many more. Our Reading Room offers reference assistance, copy services, free Wi-Fi, and Internet.

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Hours tuesday–thursday noon–5 P.M.

friday–saturday 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

sunday–monday closed

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connect with us T he Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division acquires and preserves unique and

primary materials that document the history and culture of peoples of African descent throughout the world, with a concentration on the Americas and the Caribbean. Its treasures include the personal papers of Dr. Maya Angelou, Ralph Bunche, Nat King Cole, Lorraine Hansberry, Malcolm X, and Arturo Schomburg.

manuscripts,archives and rare books

The manuscripts and archival collections are well represented in the areas of 20th century performing arts, women, Harlem, African-American writers, Civil Rights organizations and activities, research files of historians and other scholars, and papers and records of individuals and organizations documenting radical political movements, religion, and 18th- and 19th-century Haitian history, including the letters of Toussaint L’Overture. The division is home to a substantial body of sheet music in spirituals, jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, and popular songs.

Significant genre strengths for the rare book collection include slavery and antislavery in Argentina, Brazil, Grenada, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the United States; fiction and travel narratives from the Americas and Africa; history of blacks in the United States and the Caribbean; biography; and poetry. Highlights include a rare copy of Ad Catholicvm by Juan Latino, one of the first books written by an African in Latin in the 16th century, and first editions by Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison. In addition, the collection has one of the finest offerings by authors of the Harlem Renaissance such as the manuscript of Zora Neale Hurston’s Jonah’s Gourd Vine; 19th-century black women authors; and monographs published during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries by and about black people.

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moving imageand recorded sound

T he Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division collects and preserves visual and

audio materials related to the experiences of people of African descent. In a variety of formats, the division has amassed approximately 5,000 square feet of materials that document the major historical, artistic, and cultural moments of the 20th century. While its strength is in its African- American holdings, there is considerable Caribbean and African representation.

Among the broad and unique collections are more than 500 rare 16mm newsreels, and documentary and dramatic films, principally focused on political, anthropological, religious, and cultural themes. Highlights include copies and outtakes from numerous William Greaves films such as Harlem Renaissance, Black Power, and Black Ali: The Fighter; and other

notable collections such as James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, Jazz on a Summer’s Day, and The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. The division has a unique collection of public affairs programming that documents black issues and luminaries from the Civil Rights Era through Black Power and into the 1980s. There are substantial holdings from its extensive oral history/video documentation program—notably The Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project—as well as the Schomburg Center’s public programs. The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division also holds the only existing film clip of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

With more than 25,000 audio albums, the recorded sound collection covers the various genres of African-American, African, Caribbean, and Latin American music.

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Hours tuesday–thursday noon–6 P.M.

friday–saturday 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Sunday–monday Closed

212 . 4 91 . 2 270

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These holdings range from the earliest recordings of classic blues singers and jazz bands to gospel, rhythm and blues, and a growing collection of rap and hip-hop music. Among the division’s collections are rare—as well as unpublished—audio recordings that include accounts of the formerly enslaved, cast recordings of theater productions, historic radio broadcasts, and noteworthy political meetings, lectures, and speeches from Father Divine’s sermons and The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters meetings led by A. Philip Randolph. Field recordings of the Selma Civil Rights march, which includes performances and speeches by Harry Belafonte, Dick Gregory, Odetta, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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photographsand prints

T he Photographs and Prints Division collects and preserves prints and

photographs—which document peoples of African descent worldwide—for research and interpretation. The division also acquires photojournalism and fine art photography by photographers of African descent. It currently houses more than 450,000 items, which include the collections of distinguished Harlem photographers Austin Hansen, Cecil Layne, and Morgan and Marvin Smith.

The collection covers the broad range of the human experience. Its holdings date principally from the 18th century to the present, but are strongest in the 20th century. The division’s lithographs and engravings portray early African rulers and leaders and interpret traditional life and customs in precolonial Africa. Nineteenth-century photographs document the work of early African-American photographers and also portray free blacks and enslaved and colonized Africans in the United States, South America, and the Caribbean. Photographic works from the turn of the 20th century document the African colonial experience and also offer a glimpse into the education, labor, and family and social life of African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans.

Twentieth-century photographs document historic figures and events, human rights activities, African liberation movements, and the presence of peoples of African descent in the Americas.

For the continental United States, the collection is concentrated in the following subject areas: Harlem, performing arts, the modern Civil Rights Movement, religion, military participation, and organizational (fraternal, political, social, and professional) activities. Holdings also include a significant collection of portraits of primarily 20th-century historic figures and personalities, such as civic and political leaders worldwide, musicians and entertainers, sports figures, writers, artists, and other luminaries. For the Diaspora, the collection is strongest in late 19th- and early 20th-century portraiture, landscapes and cityscapes, and views of traditional life, labor, and culture in Africa, Central and South America—specifically Brazil—and the Caribbean.

Hours tuesday–THurSday noon–5 P.M.

FRIday–SATURday 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

sunday–monday Closed

212 . 4 91 . 2 0 5 7

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from the Communit y to the Cl assroom

The Schomburg Center serves learners of all ages with its dynamic fellowships and educational programs. For young people, the Center offers the Junior Scholars Program, school assemblies and workshops, teen talks, STEM and college fairs, summer reading events, and other outreach activities including school visits and presentations, and parent/community events.

The Education Department also researches and develops curricula (syllabi, lesson plans, and teacher’s guides) that engage with the Center’s collections and exhibitions, and build on related topics and current events. The Schomburg works in partnership with schools and organizations to develop curriculum and educational programming.

For college students, the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute offers a six-week program to encourage rising seniors to pursue doctoral degrees in the humanities. For educators, the Schomburg offers a weeklong Black History 360°: Summer Education Institute. Our Scholars-in-Residence program hosts fellows for several months of intensive research in the collections.

Education at the Schomburg

Junior Schol ars Program

The Junior Scholars Program is a Saturday college-preparatory institute that invites 125 youth, ages 11 to 18, to explore American and global history through the lens of the Schomburg’s collections. This flagship program builds students’ core history, research, and critical-thinking skills and invites them to cultivate their lifelong commitment to literacy, civic engagement, and the arts. The program prepares students for academic success in college, as well as intellectual and entrepreneurial careers. Junior Scholars attend lectures, engage in dialogue with adult scholars, generate individual research projects, and create collaborative media arts projects that grow from their intensive study. At the core of its pedagogy is historical literacy, the understanding that students must be taught to think critically about the past in order to intellectually engage with and interpret the present.

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fellowships and institutes

Bl ack History 360°: Summer Education Institute

During the summer, hundreds of educators and premier scholars from across the country gather at the Schomburg Center for an “education vacation.” The Black History 360°: Summer Education Institute features lectures, interactive workshops, curriculum labs, curator talks, and community walks to explore the history and cultures of African Americans and African peoples throughout the Diaspora and Africa.

Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have created the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute to encourage minority students and others with an interest in African-American and African Diasporan Studies to pursue graduate degrees, especially PhDs, in the humanities.

The program, which is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, offers a six-week session for 10 college seniors. College students hail from schools of all types from around the country, as distinctive as Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Ivy League institutions. The Institute, with the help of renowned scholars, develops and nurtures students’ interest in graduate studies, and provides them with the requisite intellectual challenges and orientations needed to pursue humanities careers and to reach their full potential.

Schol ars-in-Residence Program

The Schomburg’s Scholars-in-Residence program is the only public residency fellowship of its kind, and is home to the newly established Lapidus Center for the Study of Trans-Atlantic Slavery; this program enables leading scholars to carry out research using the Schomburg’s collections. By providing competitive stipends, the program enriches the Center’s intellectual climate, encourages exploration of the collections, and facilitates the production of scholarly work. During their tenures of six to twelve months, Scholars-in-Residence benefit from private office spaces, ongoing assistance from the Schomburg’s curatorial staff, opportunities to present their work, and a collegial research environment.Fellows have published dozens and dozens of award-winning books.

learn More: schomburgcenter.org/education

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T he Schomburg produces several dynamic public programming series that promote

intellectual enrichment, arts and culture, and community engagement. Visually Speaking, a conversation series, focuses on the works and life experiences of photographers. Between the Lines brings contemporary authors into conversation with one another and with Schomburg audiences (many streamed online). Talks at the Schomburg brings together great minds to discuss race, social justice, literature, and culture. Before 5, a popular midday series of talks, workshops, and live performances, features artists and writers. First Thursdays: Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is an adult education series—where the campus meets the community—featuring conversations with scholars, artists, and public figures.

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T he Schomburg Center is the leading venue in the metropolitan area

for exhibitions on the history and culture of people of African descent. Each year, the Schomburg mounts several exhibitions, all free and open to the public. These expertly curated exhibitions, which are held in two galleries, cover a range of topics, from Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers (2013) to Motown: The Truth Is a Hit (2014) to Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution (2014).

innovativeexhibitions

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digitalschomburg

R elying on the expertise of distinguished curators and scholars, Digital Schomburg

provides access to trusted information, interpretation, and scholarship on the global black experience. Millions of users from more than 160 countries have visited its highly successful exhibitions.

Here Are a Few Highlights of the Digital Exhibitions:Africana Age: African and African Diasporan Transformations in the 20th Century traces a turbulent history of challenges, tragedies, and triumphs in 17 dynamic essays and attractive illustrations.

learn More: schomburgcenter.org/digitalschomburg

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience presents a new interpretation of African-American history that focuses on the self-motivated activities of peoples of African descent to remake themselves and their worlds.

The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World explores a fascinating story of struggles and achievements across a variety of societies, cultures, religions, languages, and times.

The Abolition of the Sl ave Trade: The Forgot ten Story shows how a conjunction of economic, political, social, and moral factors contributed to the slow extinction of the transatlantic slave trade.

We hope that you’ll find the vast resources available at Digital Schomburg invaluable.

f o r m o r e inf o r m at i o n

Visit schomburgcenter.org/support call (212) 491-2252

membershipand support

Supporting the Schomburg Center’s Collections!

T he Schomburg needs your support! When you donate to the Schomburg, you

become a member of the Schomburg Society, a community of committed individuals who are passionate about a mission to preserve our rich history and to tell the stirring story of the people of African descent.

The Schomburg Society helps make all aspects of the Schomburg Center’s daily mission possible. From public programs that are free and open to all, to expanded hours and new programs for students, to digital offerings for people all across the world, the funds raised by members of the Schomburg Society are pivotal to everything we do. Please consider joining us today!

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