Tuesday, Jan. 24 marked the 149th physical-day anniversary of Harlem Renaissance alumnus Arturo (Arthur) Alfonso Schomburg. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd., Harlem) conducted its annual tribute to its namesake. The center was founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 2017. It is now a research institution of the New York Public Library.
Although Schomburgwas born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1874 and spent his youth there, he traveled the globe; began calling Harlem home on April 17, 1891; and eventually became a powerful figure who had an immense influence on several younger activists he aligned with.
In 1982, he became a Mason after joining the El Sol de Cuba Lodge #38, a local Spanish-speaking lodge. That same year, he co-founded a political club, Las Dos Antillas, “committed to the goal of Cuban and Puerto Rican independence,” and served as its secretary for the next four years. In 1918, he was elected Grand Secretary of Harlem’s Grand Lodge of the Prince Hall Masons. That same year, his family relocated to 105 Kosciusko Street in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Throughout the “Roaring Twenties,” he aligned with several intellectual forces of the Harlem Renaissance.
Schomburg self-published his essay, “The Negro Digs Up His Past,” in March 1925, which later inspired a youthful Dr. John Henrik Clarke (born January 1, 1915) to seek him out.
“[Arthur Schomburg’s] first words to me have re-echoed encouragingly within me throughout the years,” Clarke once noted. “They were, ‘Sit down, son.’ Then he said, ‘What you are calling African history and Negro history is nothing but the missing pages of world history. You will have to understand more about world history in order to understand who displaced our people from its pages.’ He leaned forward and spoke almost confidentially although we were alone. He said, ‘Son, go study the history of your oppressor. Once you know the history of your oppressor and why he had to oppress you, you will also learn why he had to remove you from the respectful commentary of human history…’ Our relationship began that noon hour in 1934.”
Several years later, Schomburg also connected with Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan (born December 31, 1918). The three progressive intellectuals would meet up at Schomburg’s Harlem home on a weekly basis and exchange ideas.
“The three of them recognized that they were unique in the sense of sharing the experiences of documenting the real history and heritage of Africa,” noted Dr. Georgina Falu, former director of CCNY’s Afro-Latino Studies program. “And based on that, they developed a camaraderie because they understood what it was to dedicate their lives [to researching] and respect the work each one was doing.”
All three individually produced insightful literature that preserved their decades of meticulous research.
“We owe them a lot,” Falu said. “[The Schomburg Center] has one of the largest Black libraries in the world, including in Africa. They were giants in documenting the African heritage, culture and history so that African descendants could be proud and learn about our past because a historical crime has been committed throughout the institutions in the western world that the real history of us has not been revealed.”
A movement is underway to support co-naming the intersection of Kosciusko and Nostrand as “Arthur Schomburg Place.” To support this effort, go to Facebook.com/arthur.schomburg.