Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

In 1925, The New York Public Library opened the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints—the forerunner to today’s Schomburg Center—as a special collection of the 135th Street Library. The division grew greatly the following year with the purchase of the personal collection of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the distinguished Puerto Rican–born Black scholar and bibliophile. Schomburg had spent decades collecting books, manuscripts, and art that illustrated Black contributions to global history.

Today’s Schomburg Center is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the preservation and study of materials focused on African American, African Diasporic, and African experiences. Its wide-ranging collections illuminate the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture, and continue the tradition of its namesake.