Harlem Institution Focuses On People Of African Descent

FEATURE PHOTOS

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Taylor Woobberry, a young Harlem resident standing outside the Schomberg Center's exhibit honoring African American legends

By David Pitts
Washington File Staff Writer

Harlem, New York -- Visitors from every corner of the world, as well as Americans, are drawn to Harlem's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The center is a national research library documenting the experiences not just of African Americans, but of all peoples of African descent throughout the world. It is located on famed Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem, the most famous black neighborhood in the United States.

In celebration of Black History Month 2002, the center is showcasing "The New York Black 100" -- telling the stories of "the 100 most significant black New York history-makers of the twentieth century." Included are political activists such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X, entertainers such as singer Lena Horne and actress Ruby Dee, and writers such as James Baldwin and Langston Hughes.

A separate exhibit honors Hughes on the occasion of this year��s centennial of his birth. Not all the honorees are New York natives. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, for example. But all of them lived here during the time of their greatest achievements. Hughes is regarded as the leading light of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, the period of a great flowering of African American talent.

The exhibits for Black History Month 2002 are attracting a larger than usual number of visitors, particularly children, according to a center spokesperson. One of them, Taylor Woobberry, a young Harlem resident, remarked, ��my favorite photograph and story is of Arthur Ashe (the late tennis star).�� He added that ��all this is really great. It lets people all over the world know what people of color have achieved."

The center houses five research divisions in its permanent collecton:

• Art and Artifacts. This division documents, preserves and interprets art and artifacts by and about peoples of African heritage throughout the world. They include painting and sculpture; drawings, prints, illustrations and posters; and textiles.
• General Research and Reference. English is the predominant language of the division's holdings, but works also are available in French, Portuguese, Spanish, German and other European languages. In addition, there are works in over 200 indigenous African languages.
• Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books. Materials are collected in most languages here as well. The rare book holdings date back to the late 16th century. The 20th-century collection includes first, early and variant editions of works by black authors through the Harlem Renaissance up to the present day.
• Moving Image and Recorded Sound. Included are documentary as well as feature films focusing on politics, anthropology, religion and culture. Musical offerings include the earliest sound recordings of classic blues singers and jazz bands.
• Photographs and Prints. The Center has over 300,000 images ranging from mid-18th-century graphics to contemporary documentary and art photography. Photographs include those taken by giants in their field such as Gordon Parks, James VanDerZee, and Carl Van Vechten.

The Schomburg's collection includes art objects, audio and video tapes, books, manuscripts, motion picture films, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, prints, recorded music discs, and sheet music. For those unable to visit New York, mail and telephone reference services are available. In addition, three exhibits can be accessed online: The Schomburg Legacy: Documenting the Global Black Experience for the 21st Century; The African Presence in the Americas, 1492-1992; and, Harlem 1900-1940: An African American Community.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is part of the New York Public Library system. It first won international acclaim in 1926 when the personal collection of the Puerto Rican-born black scholar, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, was added to the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints at the 135th Street branch of the New York Library. Schomburg served as curator from 1932 until his death in 1938. The library became the Schomburg Center in 1972.