Watch Now: Schomburg Centennial Kickoff Celebrations, May 8, 2025
Left to right: Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, former director of the Schomburg Center, Farah Jasmine Griffin, former director of the Schomburg Center’s Scholars-in-Residence Program, Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins, and Dr. Howard Dodson, former director of the Schomburg Center
Photo: Bob Gore for NYPL
On May 8, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture kicked off a year-long celebration of its centennial. When Arturo Schomburg helped seed The New York Public Library’s Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints with holdings from his immense personal collection of books and ephemera about the Black experience, he set in motion the creation of what remains the largest such collection in the world. In addition to a daylong open house followed by an evening of jubilant fellowship, the Schomburg Center hosted a number of discussions that centered this special research library and some of the most iconic moments from its history.
Rebuilding the Past, Making the Future of the Schomburg Center
Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins was joined by former Schomburg Center Directors Dr. Howard Dodson and Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad as well as Farah Jasmine Griffin, former director of the Schomburg Center’s Scholars-in-Residence Program, for a look back (and an eye towards the future of) their respective roles in building up the Schomburg Center as a formidable repository of Black knowledge.
Harlem’s Placemaking Evolution
Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins, New York Times Narrative Projects Editor Veronica Chambers, and Metropolitan Museum of Art Curator at Large Denise Murrell convened a panel to discuss the way that a slim piece of geography above Central Park provided throughout the 20th century an incubator for a number of social and artistic changes that would revolutionize the rest of the city—and the world.
Dr. Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka’s Shared Schomburg Moment
Artist, curator, and former Schomburg Center manager of educational programs Nashormeh N. R. Lindo sat with former New York Times photographer Chester Higgins and meditated on some of Higgins’s work, with a special focus on a moment he captured during the 1991 dedication of the Schomburg Center’s Langston Hughes Auditorium. As guests partied and mingled atop the newly installed Rivers terrazzo cosmogram by Houston Conwill with Estella Conwill Majozo and Joseph DePace, two notable attendees danced into Higgins’s frame. When he clicked his shutter he captured a historic shot of Dr. Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka offering choreographic tribute to one of their biggest literary inspirations.
The Kickoff Evening Program
Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries Brent Reidy, and historian Nell Irvin Painter, among others, came together to thank everyone who made the Schomburg Centennial kickoff possible and exhort the importance of this vital institution’s mission. Musician Marcelle Davies-Lashley provided uplifting and invigorating musical selections.
More Ways to Celebrate the Schomburg Centennial
The New York Public Library will be honoring the Schomburg Center 100th annivesrary throughout the year.
June 14: Schomburg Centennial Festival
Mark your calendar and join us at 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem for the official Schomburg Centennial Festival this June! Come for readings with your favorite authors and comic creators, cosplay, panel discussions, a marketplace, and more; stay for our block party featuring musical performances from Slick Rick and others. Learn more.
Photo: NYPL
Get Your Special-Edition Library Card
Take home a piece of history with a special-edition library card commemorating 100 years of the Schomburg Center! The card features imagery from Rivers, the brass cosmogram and public art installation located in the Schomburg Center’s lobby that honors both Arturo Schomburg and the poet Langston Hughes. Learn more and apply for one today.
Image: Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934 by Aaron Douglas
Exhibition Open Now! 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity
Join us for a major new exhibition showcasing some of the many extraordinary items from the Schomburg Center’s collections! Curated by Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins, the exhibition surrounds visitors with the sights, sounds, and objects that have shaped this historic institution’s first century. Plus, listen to the audio guide to hear the story of the Schomburg Center as told by its staff, hosted by actor, director, and author LeVar Burton. Learn more.