Thursday marks the 145th bornday anniversary celebration of astute bibliographer and historian Arthur Alphonso Schomburg, who navigated the globe amassing millions of African artifacts from throughout the diaspora during the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th. His trove of rare items has been on public display since 1940 at Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd.), which was designated with a National Landmark status January 2017.
Born Jan. 24, 1874, in San Turce, Puerto Rico, Schomburg devoted his life as a youth to uncovering Africa’s glory after an elementary school teacher told him, “African people have no accomplishments of any consequence.” This fallacious claim set him off on a life-long conquest in pursuit of Africa’s true past. Experiencing much racism as a youth, he later redefined himself as an Afro-Borinqueño, an African-Puerto Rican.
“His research, collection of books and resources on African history and heritage is unparalleled, even in Africa,” contends Dr. Georgina Falu, former director of CCNY’s Afro-Latino Studies. “We owe a great debt to Schomburg.”
Schomburg migrated to Harlem April 17, 1891, yet continued the campaign for Puerto Rico’s independence from U.S. colonialism. His family relocated to 105 Kosciusko St. in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in 1918, but still kept their uptown ties, becoming an instrumental figure during the invigorating Harlem Renaissance the following decade, aligning with Marcus Garvey, Countee Cullin, John E. Bruce and other activists.
“He wasn’t just an intellectual giant; he knew that knowledge had to be backed by activism,” stated historian Dr. Leonard Jeffries, who celebrated his 82nd bornday Jan. 19. “He was also an activist; he struggled politically around Latin America, seeing all the Caribbean communities as having deep African roots, whether they come from the French, Spanish or English traditions of colonialism. He was an activist, nationalist and a Pan-Africanist, early on.”
During March 1925, Schomburg self-published his inspirational essay, “The Negro Digs Up His Past.” African scholar warriors Dr. John Henrik Clarke and Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan often recalled sitting at Schomburg’s feet in Harlem’s trenches during the 1930s.
Schomburg joined the ancestors June 8, 1938, following dental surgery at Brooklyn’s Madison Park Hospital. He is interred at Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills National Cemetery.
“The Schomburg Center stands as a beacon of light like no other place, as a symbol of the struggle,” concluded Jeffries, who will speak Friday, Jan. 25, (6 p.m.-11 p.m.), at Harlem’s National Black Theater (2033 Fifth Ave.). “African people will have to continue to be vigilant in fighting so it continues to serve our people who want to know the contributions of African people.”
For more information, visit www.schomburgcenter.org.
To support the campaign to co-name the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Kosciusko Street “Arthur Schomburg Place,” contact facebook.com/arthur.schomburg.