Black Studies on 135th Street: The Founding and Future of the Schomburg Collection (HC) (2026)

A centennial celebration of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and its vital role in the development of Black Studies

In 1926, the Afro-Puerto Rican bibliophile Arturo Schomburg's collection of four thousand books, pamphlets, papers, and prints arrived at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. The collection contained works in many languages and formats, offering an unparalleled look into the richness and global reach of Black history. One hundred years later, Schomburg's collection remains a central feature of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, now the world's premier archive for study of the African diaspora, housing more than 11 million items, and a vibrant site of Black intellectual life.

This volume not only contextualizes the life and work of Schomburg and chronicles the history of the institution that bears his name but also includes a list of books and pamphlets in Schomburg's initial "seed collection," the fruit of a multiyear research effort to reconstruct this early Black Studies archive. Framing this list are essays and reflections written by an interdisciplinary group of scholars on the development of the Black intellectual tradition, both in Schomburg's time and today.