Schomburg Center Digitizes Over 1,500 Titles

The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research and Culture may be temporarily closed, but librarians have been busy digitizing and curating several new research guides. "This summer, librarians Allison Hughes, Matthew Murphy, and Bridgett Pride created the Arturo (Arthur) Schomburg Research Guide," for instance, which "features over 1,500 digitalized titles from Mr. Schomburg's seed library. He sold the materials to NYPL in 1926." More on this great resource:

“While Schomburg is primarily known as a book collector, he was also a prolific writer, and his essays and letters on Black history, culture, and politics appeared in many newspapers and periodicals of his day,” Hughes said.

One of the guide’s highlights includes links to detailed illustrations and portraits from books in Mr. Schomburg's collection. Titles include Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities, Men of Mark, The Negro in Business, and Souvenir of Negro Progress: Chicago, 1779-1925.

Additionally, a link to HathiTrust allows researchers to read digital reproductions of books similar to the ones Mr. Schomburg owned.

"Both sections of the guide are really helpful in understanding Mr. Schomburg's lifelong contributions to the study of the African Diaspora," Murphy said.

Mr. Schomburg’s act of collecting materials documenting people of African descent's history and achievements served as a quiet rebellion against people who believed Black people made no contribution or had no place in history.

And don't miss the Black Liberation Reading List, also created by Schomburg curators and staff, which focuses on "Black writers and those whose personal papers are in the Schomburg Center's collections." More on this and other research guides here.