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1874 – 1938: The amazing story of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
What you need to know before your trail
Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.
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The Harlem of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, and activist.
Arturo was a Puerto Rican man of also African and German descent who moved to the United States. When he was in the states,he became interested in helping to raise awareness of the great contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Americans have made to society.
With this goal in mind, he became a firm advocate for collecting literature and art from these cultures and in particular slave narratives to help tell the story of some of them. He was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, was named in his honor, at the New York Public Library (NYPL) branch in Harlem.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
Destination: New York City, Harlem Author/guide:Carole Boston Weatherford Departure Time: 1874 – 1938
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