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Creator
Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso, 1874-1938
Call number
Sc MG 952
Physical description
0.83 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Arthur Alfonso Schomburg papers (additions), Sc MG 952, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
Home to Harlem Project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Arthur (originally Arturo) Alfonso Schomburg was a collector of books and manuscripts pertaining to black history and culture, whose collection formed the basis for the Schomburg Center for Black Culture. This collection consists primarily of correspondence to Arthur Schomburg; press clippings, mostly in scrapbooks, of articles by and about Schomburg; ephemera; and memorials of Schomburg written after his death.

Biographical/historical information

Arthur (originally Arturo) Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938) was a collector of books and manuscripts pertaining to black history and culture whose collection formed the basis for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Schomburg moved to New York City in 1891, settling in Harlem and later, Brooklyn. As a young man, he was an active supporter of Cuban and Puerto Rican independence, cofounding the political club Las Dos Antillas; later, he was involved in several organizations devoted to promoting African American research and scholarship, including the Negro Society for Historical Research and the American Negro Academy. Drawing on his extensive collection of books and historical documents, Schomburg wrote articles on the history of the African diaspora for major black periodicals including The Crisis, Opportunity, Negro World, and The New York Amsterdam News. In 1926, Schomburg sold his collection to the New York Public Library, and served as curator of the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints from 1932 until his death in 1938.

For a timeline of Schomburg's life, see the Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Papers.

Scope and arrangement

This collection consists of correspondence, press clippings, and ephemera primarily relating to Arthur Schomburg's activities as a book collector, historian, and curator at the New York Public Library (NYPL).

The correspondence files mostly contain letters written to Schomburg, with some of his responses included. Correspondents include Booker T. Washington, lawyer John Wesley Cromwell, poet George Reginald Margetson, author Benjamin Brawley, and heiress and activist Nancy Cunard, among others.

The other material includes press clippings, mostly in scrapbooks, of articles by and about Schomburg; printed ephemera; and memorials of Schomburg written after his death. The memorials include remembrances by various friends and scholars including Alain Locke, Rayford W. Logan, Dorothy B. Porter, and E. Franklin Frazier. The file of ephemera and personal papers contains invitations, flyers, and programs for speaking engagements and other events; as well as miscellaneous notes and papers, including a signed testimony from Schomburg acting in his capacity as a clerk at a law firm. Additionally of note are two petitions: one from the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) presented to the League of Nations on behalf of "four hundred million Negros" worldwide, and inscribed to Schomburg from UNIA Special Secretary John E. Bruce, and one presented to the NYPL from W.E.B. DuBois, protesting racial discrimination in Library hiring practices. The NYPL petition is also accompanied by correspondence regarding Schomburg's position as Curator.

The Arthur Alfonso Schomburg papers (additions) is arranged in three series:

Administrative information

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Allison Hughes. (2021 April 8)

Processing information

Processed by Allison Hughes in 2018.

Separated material

This material was retrieved from the Lawrence D. Reddick Papers. Reddick succeeded Schomburg as curator of the Schomburg Collection after Schomburg's death in 1938, serving from 1939-1948. When Reddick's papers were acquired by the Schomburg Center in 1998, this material was found and identified as belonging with the Schomburg papers

Related Material

Arthur Alfonso Schomburg papers, Sc Micro R-2798, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Arthur Alfonso Schomburg collection, Sc MG 41, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor

Access restrictions

Researchers are restricted to surrogate copies of newspapers deemed too fragile for use.