In February 1991, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem observed the 89th birthday of the poet Langston Hughes and the beginning of African Heritage Month. Amiri Baraka and Maya Angelou celebrated by dancing!!
On July 14, 1905 the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture opened in Harlem, New York. Located at 515 Malcolm X Blvd, the Center is one of my favourite places to visit in New York City and is one of “the leading institutions focused on the experiences of people across the African Diaspora.”
The Schomburg Center is named in honour of African American activist/writer Arturo Alfonso Schomburg who was active during the Harlem Renaissance. Schomburg was born on January 24, 1874 in Puerto Rico to an African Caribbean woman from St Croix, Virgin Islands. Schomburg lived with his mother in Puerto Rico during his early life and spent part of his childhood with his mother’s extended family in St Croix. In her published 1989 book “Arthur Alfonso Schomburg: Black Bibliophile & Collector: a Biography” Elinor Des Verney Sinnette wrote: “At some point in Arturo’s childhood Mary Joseph perhaps unable to care for herself and Arturo adequately in Puerto Rico or perhaps just longing to be close to her parents left San Juan to settle in the Virgin Islands where Arturo became a member of the Nicholas Joseph family of St Croix.” According to available information Schomburg’s interest in African history was awakened by a White supremacist 5th grade teacher who said that Africans had “no history, no heroes and no great moments.” The young Schomburg was inspired to spend his life “digging up” the history of Africans to prove his 5th grade teacher wrong.
On April 17, 1891 the 17 year old Schomburg immigrated to the USA arriving in New York. He worked at various jobs for survival (including elevator operator, bellhop, printer and porter) while pursuing an education at night school. Schomburg experienced the White supremacist culture of America especially since the three women to whom he was married (at different periods of his life) were all African American women born in southern states. He travelled to those southern states to visit family during the dreadful period of the frequent lynching of African Americans (including Tulsa, Oklahoma May 1921 and Rosewood, Florida January 1923.)
Schomburg was a man before his time in his advocacy for the inclusion of African history in the curriculum. In his published work of 1913 entitled “Racial integrity: A plea for the establishment of a chair of Negro history in our schools and colleges, etc.” he urged educators to: "include the practical history of the Negro race from the dawn of civilization to the present time." He was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP,) a cofounder of the Negro Society for Historical Research and served as president of the American Negro Academy. In 1926, Schomburg donated his collection of "more than 5,000 books; 3,000 manuscripts; 2,000 etchings and paintings; and several thousand pamphlets." Schomburg was appointed a member of the Advisory Committee responsible for overseeing the collection which was officially named "The Arthur A. Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and Art." The Schomburg Centre has more than 10,000,000 items and is recognized as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world. The Center has collected, preserved and provided access to materials documenting African life and has “promoted the study and interpretation of the history and culture of peoples of African descent.”
In an article entitled “The Negro Digs Up His Past” which was published in the March 1925 edition of “Survey Graphic Magazine” Schomburg wrote: “When we consider the facts, certain chapters of American history will have to be reopened. Just as Black men were influential factors in the campaign against the slave trade, so they were among the earliest instigators of the abolition movement. Indeed there was a dangerous calm between the agitation for the suppression of the slave trade and the beginning of the campaign for emancipation. During that interval colored men were very influential in arousing the attention of public men who in turn aroused the conscience of the country. Continuously between 1808 and 1845, men like Prince Saunders, Peter Williams, Absalom Jones, Nathaniel Paul, and Bishops Varick and Richard Allen, the founders of the two wings of African Methodism, spoke out with force and initiative, and men like Denmark Vesey (1822), David Walker (1828) and Nat Turner (1831) advocated and organized schemes for direct action.”
The essay inspired African American historian John Henrik Clarke (January 1, 1915-July 16, 1998) who wrote that at 17 years old (1932) he left his home in Columbus, Georgia and travelled to Harlem, New York in search of Schomburg to further his studies in African history. In an interview with “Civil Rights Journal” Clarke spoke of his meeting with Schomburg who said to him: “Sit down, son. What you are calling African history and Negro history is nothing but the missing pages of world history. You will have to know general history to understand these specific aspects of history. You have to study your oppressor. That's where your history got lost." Clarke said that Schomburg “opened up my eyes to the fact that I came from an old people, older than slavery, older than the people who oppressed us.”
On July 14, 1905 when the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture opened in Harlem, New York, Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 8, 1938) was a 31 year old African American living in a White supremacist society that discounted and marginalized the culture and history of Africans from the continent and the Diaspora. Schomburg dedicated his time and energy to “digging up” the history of Africans and sharing that knowledge. Today there is a plethora of knowledge available to us and our children about our history. During the beautiful summer weather visit your local library or one of our community bookstores. Read a book about African history, read to your children, buy books for your children or other people’s children. Black Lives Matter!!
No comments:
Post a Comment