Research Catalog

Arthur Alfonso Schomburg collection

Title
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg collection [graphic].
Publication
1911-1997.

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2 Items

StatusContainerFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
box 1Still imageUse in library Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection box 1Schomburg Center - Photographs & Prints
box 2Still imageUse in library Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection box 2Schomburg Center - Photographs & Prints

Details

Additional Authors
  • Allen, James L. (James Latimer), 1907-1977.
  • Colorado, R.
  • Marcus, Helen.
  • Sprinkle, W. A.
  • Argudín y Pedroso, Pastor
  • Braxton, William Ernest, 1878-1932
  • Brent, Richard.
  • Smith, Albert Alex.
  • Campbell (New York, N.Y.)
  • De Bellis Studio (New York, N.Y.)
  • Gillman & Co. (Oxford, England)
  • Strohmeyer & Wyman.
  • Vernon (New York, N.Y.)
Description
  • 264 items (.6 lin. ft., 2 boxes); 28 x 21 cm. and smaller.
  • 87 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
  • 56 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
  • 72 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
  • 34 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
  • 2 photostats : b&w ;
  • 4 photomechanical prints : some halftone, b&w ;
  • 2 photographic postcards : b&w ;
  • 1 drawing : pencil on paper, b&w ;
  • 2 news clippings : halftone, b&w ;
  • 1 greeting card : col. ;
  • 3 photocopies : b&w ;
Summary
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.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Portrait photographs – 1910-1999.
  • Group portraits – 1910-1989.
  • Snapshots – 1920-1939.
  • Gelatin silver prints – 1910-1999.
  • Photomechanical prints – 1930-1989.
  • Photograph albums – 1920-1929.
  • Scrapbooks – 1920-1929.
  • Clippings – 1930-1939.
  • Reproductions – 1980-1999.
  • Inscriptions – 1900-1930.
  • Stats – 1980-1989.
Note
  • Title devised by cataloger.
  • 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.
  • Collection contains work by James L. Allen, Helen Marcus and Campbell Studios, New York, among others.
Biography (note)
  • Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, bibliophile, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of racially mixed parentage in 1874.
Publications (note)
  • Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: black bibliophile & collector / Elinor Des Verney Sinnette. Detroit : Wayne State University; New York : New York Public Library, 1989.
  • The legacy of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: a celebration of the past, a vision for the future. [New York] : New York Public Library, 1986.
Call Number
Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection
OCLC
NYPG00-F13
Title
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg collection [graphic].
Imprint
1911-1997.
Biography
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.
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
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: black bibliophile & collector / Elinor Des Verney Sinnette. Detroit : Wayne State University; New York : New York Public Library, 1989.
The legacy of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: a celebration of the past, a vision for the future. [New York] : New York Public Library, 1986.
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Added Author
Allen, James L. (James Latimer), 1907-1977. Photographer
Colorado, R. Photographer
Marcus, Helen. Photographer
Sprinkle, W. A. Photographer
Argudín y Pedroso, Pastor, painter.
Braxton, William Ernest, 1878-1932, painter.
Brent, Richard. Illustrator
Smith, Albert Alex. Illustrator
Campbell (New York, N.Y.)
De Bellis Studio (New York, N.Y.)
Gillman & Co. (Oxford, England)
Strohmeyer & Wyman.
Vernon (New York, N.Y.)
Research Call Number
Sc Photo Arthur Alfonso Schomburg Collection
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