author
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg
1874–1938
A pioneering collector and historian, he devoted his life to preserving the stories, documents, and achievements of people of African descent. His work helped lay the foundation for one of the world’s most important centers for Black history and culture.
1 Audiobook
Papers of the American Negro Academy. (The American Negro Academy. Occasional Papers, No. 18-19.)
by Archibald Henry Grimké, John Wesley Cromwell, Lafayette M. Hershaw, William Pickens, Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, T. G. (Theophilus Gould) Steward
About the author
Born in Puerto Rico in 1874, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg—often known in the United States as Arthur A. Schomburg—became a historian, writer, curator, and activist whose life’s work centered on recovering Black history. He moved to New York City as a teenager and became an important figure in the intellectual world that would later be associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
Schomburg spent decades building an extraordinary collection of books, manuscripts, art, and historical documents related to Africa and the African diaspora. He believed that history mattered deeply, and that preserving evidence of Black achievement was essential in challenging racist myths and giving future generations a fuller understanding of the past.
His collection became the basis for the renowned Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. Today, he is remembered not only for what he wrote, but for the way he helped save and share a global Black history that might otherwise have been lost.