Arturo Alfonso Schomburg

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 19, 1938), was a historian, writer, curator, and activist, who wrote numerous books. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, settling in New York City (at the age of 17) where he researched and raised awareness of the contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and African Americans have made to society. As a young man, Schomburg was told that Black people had no significant history. He spent his life disproving that notion, gathering evidence of Black achievement and celebrating the richness of Black life. He was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Over the years, he collected literature, art, slave narratives, and other materials of African history, which were purchased to become the basis of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, named in his honor, at the New York Public Library (NYPL) branch in Harlem.