Arthur Alfonso Schomburg

author

Arthur Alfonso Schomburg

1874–1938

A pioneering collector and historian of the African diaspora, he built one of the most important archives of Black history in the United States. His work helped challenge racist myths by preserving books, manuscripts, and art that others had ignored.

1 Audiobook

Papers of the American Negro Academy. (The American Negro Academy. Occasional Papers, No. 18-19.)

Papers of the American Negro Academy. (The American Negro Academy. Occasional Papers, No. 18-19.)

by John Wesley Cromwell, Archibald Henry Grimké, 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 became a writer, historian, and passionate collector whose life's work was devoted to documenting Black achievement across the Americas and beyond. After moving to New York, he became a leading figure in Harlem's intellectual life and argued that people of African descent needed to recover and preserve their history.

Over many years, he assembled a remarkable collection of books, letters, artworks, and rare documents related to Africa and the African diaspora. In 1926, the New York Public Library acquired his collection, which became the foundation of the world-renowned Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Schomburg died in 1938, but his influence has only grown. He is remembered not just as a collector, but as someone who helped reshape the study of Black history by showing that the record was rich, global, and worth saving.