The Schomburg Center of the New York Public Library is one of the first institutions which came to our attention when we began building a website on Composers and Musicians of African Descent. Femi Lewis has written an article on the namesake of the Schomburg Center, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg:
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg: Preserving the Past
Femi Lewis, About.com Guide
Overview
Afro-Puerto Rican historian, writer and activist Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance, collecting literature, art and other artifacts pertaining to people of
African descent. His collections were purchased by the New York Public
Library and today, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is
one of the most prominent research libraries focused on the African
diaspora.
Key Details
- Birth date: January 24, 1874
- Parents: Maria Josefa and Carlos Federico Schomburg
- Spouse: Elizabeth Hatcher d. 1900; Elizabeth Morrow Taylor
- Children: Arthur Alfonso Jr., Maximo Gomez, Kingsley Guarionex, Reginald Stanton and Nathaniel Jose.
- Death: June 8, 1938
Early Life and Education
As a child, Schomburg was told by one of his teachers that people of
African descent had no history and no achievements. This teacher's words
would inspire Schomburg to dedicate the rest of his life to discovering
the important accomplishments of people of African descent. Later,
Schomburg attended Instituto Popular where he studied commercial
printing and later, at St. Thomas College, Schomburg studied Africana
Literature.
Migration to the Main Land
In 1891, Schomburg came to New York City where he became an activist
with the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico, playing an integral
role in fighting for Puerto Rico and Cuba's independence from Spain.
Living in Harlem, Schomburg coined the term "afroborinqueno" to
celebrate his heritage as a Latino of African descent.
To support his family, Schomburg worked a variety of jobs--teaching
spanish, working as a messenger and clerk in a law firm. However, his
passion was identifying artifacts that disproved the notion that people
of African descent had no history or achievements. Schomburg's first
article, "Is Hayti Decadent?" appeared in a 1904 issue of The Unique
Advertiser. In 1909, Schomburg wrote a profile on the poet and
independence fighter, Gabriel de la Concepcion Valdez entitled Placido a
Cuban Martyr.
An Esteemed Historian
In the early 1900s, African-American men such as Carter G. Woodson and W. E. B. Du Bois were encouraging others to learn African-American history. During this
time, Schomburg established the Negro Society for Historical Research in
1911 with John Howard Bruce. The purpose of the Negro Society for
Historical Research would be to support the research efforts of
African-American, African and Caribbean scholars. As a result of
Schomburg's work with Bruce, he was appointed president of the American Negro Academy. In this leadership position, Schomburg co-edited the Encyclopedia of the Colored Race.
Schomburg's essay, "The Negro Digs Up His Past" was published in a special issue of Survey Graphic, which promoted the artistic endeavors of African-American writers. The essay was later included in the anthology The New Negro, edited by Alain Locke.
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