Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Allen, James L. (James Latimer), 1907-1977.
2. Colorado, R.
3. Marcus, Helen.
4. Sprinkle, W. A.
5. Argudín y Pedroso, Pastor
6. Braxton, William Ernest, 1878-1932
7. Brent, Richard.
8. Smith, Albert Alex.
9. Campbell (New York, N.Y.)
10. De Bellis Studio (New York, N.Y.)
11. Gillman & Co. (Oxford, England)
12. Strohmeyer & Wyman.
13. Vernon (New York, N.Y.)

Description

1. 264 items (.6 lin. ft., 2 boxes); 28 x 21 cm. and smaller.

Summary

1. The Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection depicts aspects of his personal life and his activities as a Freemason, bibliophile and curator from the 1870s to 1938.

Subject

1. Puerto Ricans > United States
2. Schomburg, Elizabeth Hatcher
3. Snapshots > 1920-1939
4. Spain > Spain > Seville > Pictorial works
5. Group portraits > 1910-1989
6. New York Public Library > 135th Street Branch
7. Williamson, Harry A (Harry Albro), 1875-1965
8. Schomburg, Mary Elizabeth Green
9. Gelatin silver prints > 1910-1999
10. Stats > 1980-1989
11. Diaz, Dolores Maria Schomburg
12. African Americans > Social life > 1910-1949
13. Reproductions > 1980-1999
14. Scrapbooks > 1920-1929
15. Photomechanical prints > 1930-1989
16. Clippings > 1930-1939
17. Freemasons > Prince Hall Grand Lodge (N.Y.)
18. Inscriptions > 1900-1930
19. Schomburg, Kingsley, 1900-
20. Douglas, Aaron
21. Photograph albums > 1920-1929
22. Locke, Alain LeRoy, 1886-1954
23. African American historians
24. Bolivar, William C
25. Guillén, Nicolás, 1902-1989
26. Handy, W. C (William Christopher), 1873-1958
27. Allen, James E (James Egert), 1896-1980
28. Rites & ceremonies > 1910-1969
29. Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and History
30. Portrait photographs > 1910-1999
31. African American librarians > New York (State) > New York
32. Bruce, John Edward, 1856-1924
33. Book collectors > United States
34. African American freemasonry > New York (State) > New York
35. Garvey, Marcus, 1887-1940
36. Schomburg, Elizabeth Morrow Taylor
37. Schomburg, Arthur Alfonso, 1874-1938
38. France > France > Paris > Pictorial works
39. Latimer, Catherine, 1896-1948

Genre/Form

1. Portrait photographs – 1910-1999.
2. Group portraits – 1910-1989.
3. Snapshots – 1920-1939.
4. Gelatin silver prints – 1910-1999.
5. Photomechanical prints – 1930-1989.
6. Photograph albums – 1920-1929.
7. Scrapbooks – 1920-1929.
8. Clippings – 1930-1939.
9. Reproductions – 1980-1999.
10. Inscriptions – 1900-1930.
11. Stats – 1980-1989.

Call number

1. Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection

Note

1. Title devised by cataloger.
2. Two photographs have photographer's handstamp on verso; some photographs have photography studio name printed on recto. Some photographs bear handwritten notations on verso; many photo album images are accompanied by handwritten captions. Some items have printed captions attached to verso; some items have captions or notations printed on recto. Some items bear inscriptions. Many photographs, mostly snapshots, are mounted on photo album pages; some images are mounted on copy boards; some photographs are on photo mounts. Some items have cropping and/or retouching marks; some images are duplicates.
3. Collection contains work by James L. Allen, Helen Marcus and Campbell Studios, New York, among others.

Biography (note)

1. Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, bibliophile, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of racially mixed parentage in 1874.

Publications (note)

1. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: black bibliophile & collector / Elinor Des Verney Sinnette. Detroit : Wayne State University; New York : New York Public Library, 1989.
2. The legacy of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: a celebration of the past, a vision for the future. [New York] : New York Public Library, 1986.

Title

1. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg collection [graphic].

Imprint

1. 1911-1997.

Biography

1. Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, bibliophile, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of racially mixed parentage in 1874. He received a formal education, but was largely self-taught. He moved to the United States in 1891, settling in New York City, where he would join the Masons, became active in the independence movement for Puerto Rico and Cuba, and began his lifelong quest to acquire the literature and art of persons of African descent. After working for five years in a law office, he began a 23 year tenure at the Bankers Trust Company, in 1906, eventually working his way up to head of the mail room.
2. As an expert in the history of persons of African descent, Schomburg, now known as Arthur, was an important figure during the Harlem Renaissance. He was active in the Prince Hall Freemasons; helped to co-found the Negro Society for Historical Research, with journalist John Bruce, in 1911; became the president of the short-lived American Negro Academy in 1922; and wrote numerous essays and bibliographical studies on African and African-American history. In 1925, the New York Public Library opened a Negro Division at the 135th Street Branch Library in Harlem, followed the next year by the Carnegie Corporation's $10,000 donation to purchase Schomburg's collection of books, manuscripts and art, which was then donated to the library. Schomburg, who was a librarian at Fisk University from 1930 to 1932, became the Carnegie funded curator of his collection at the 135th Street Branch, and remained in this position until his death in 1938. His collection was named the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and History in 1940; in 1973, it was renamed the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Publications

1. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: black bibliophile & collector / Elinor Des Verney Sinnette. Detroit : Wayne State University; New York : New York Public Library, 1989.
2. The legacy of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: a celebration of the past, a vision for the future. [New York] : New York Public Library, 1986.

Connect to:

1. Request Appointment
2. NYPL Digital Collections

Added author

1. Allen, James L. (James Latimer), 1907-1977. Photographer
2. Colorado, R. Photographer
3. Marcus, Helen. Photographer
4. Sprinkle, W. A. Photographer
5. Argudín y Pedroso, Pastor, painter.
6. Braxton, William Ernest, 1878-1932, painter.
7. Brent, Richard. Illustrator
8. Smith, Albert Alex. Illustrator
9. Campbell (New York, N.Y.)
10. De Bellis Studio (New York, N.Y.)
11. Gillman & Co. (Oxford, England)
12. Strohmeyer & Wyman.
13. Vernon (New York, N.Y.)

Research call number

1. Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection