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02/06/25
The Schomburg Center to celebrate 100 years
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02/06/25
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*excerpt from A Great and Mighty Walk
www.nypl.org
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will kick off its 100th anniversary on May 8th, 2025.
With a year-long celebration that includes a major exhibition, a summer festival, book giveaways, lively new programming, and a limited edition library card.
Exactly one hundred years ago on May 8, 1925, its forerunner—the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints at the 135th Street Branch Library—opened its doors at the height of the Harlem Renaissance.
The exhibition 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity is one of the largest in the Center’s history, and will include feature iconic objects from its holdings including, Aaron Douglas’s murals “Aspects of Negro Life” and Pietro Calvi’s sculpture “Ira Aldridge as Othello,” manuscript pages from Maya Angelou and Malcolm X, the visitor book from the 1925 opening (signed by Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and artist Augusta Savage) and collection items that exemplify the Schomburg’s legacy of librarianship from Romare Bearden, James Baldwin, James Van Der Zee and more. The exhibition is curated by Director Joy Bivins and Schomburg staff, with an audio guide narrated by actor, producer, author, and literacy champion LeVar Burton and Schomburg curators.
The exhibition’s opening will be an all-day celebration with fireside chats featuring former directors Howard Dodson, Kevin Young, and Khalil Gibran Muhammad with current director Joy Bivins, prolific writer and editor of Narrative Projects at New York Times Veronica Chambers, curator of the groundbreaking exhibition The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism Denise Murell, PhD, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, Dr. Jeffrey Stewart and an evening reception DJ’d by Stormin Norman.
Starting on the same day, patrons can take home their own piece of Black history with a special-edition library card depicting the Center’s cosmogram Rivers. The card will be available at all NYPL branches while supplies last. Branches will also give away copies of the children’s book Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library, a picture book detailing Arturo Schomburg’s vision to create the archive that would found the Schomburg collection.
@Akae Beka
100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity
100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity explores the Schomburg Center’s history through the prism of place, people, and material culture.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will kick off its 100th anniversary on May 8th, 2025.
With a year-long celebration that includes a major exhibition, a summer festival, book giveaways, lively new programming, and a limited edition library card.
Exactly one hundred years ago on May 8, 1925, its forerunner—the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints at the 135th Street Branch Library—opened its doors at the height of the Harlem Renaissance.
The exhibition 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity is one of the largest in the Center’s history, and will include feature iconic objects from its holdings including, Aaron Douglas’s murals “Aspects of Negro Life” and Pietro Calvi’s sculpture “Ira Aldridge as Othello,” manuscript pages from Maya Angelou and Malcolm X, the visitor book from the 1925 opening (signed by Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and artist Augusta Savage) and collection items that exemplify the Schomburg’s legacy of librarianship from Romare Bearden, James Baldwin, James Van Der Zee and more. The exhibition is curated by Director Joy Bivins and Schomburg staff, with an audio guide narrated by actor, producer, author, and literacy champion LeVar Burton and Schomburg curators.
The exhibition’s opening will be an all-day celebration with fireside chats featuring former directors Howard Dodson, Kevin Young, and Khalil Gibran Muhammad with current director Joy Bivins, prolific writer and editor of Narrative Projects at New York Times Veronica Chambers, curator of the groundbreaking exhibition The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism Denise Murell, PhD, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, Dr. Jeffrey Stewart and an evening reception DJ’d by Stormin Norman.
Starting on the same day, patrons can take home their own piece of Black history with a special-edition library card depicting the Center’s cosmogram Rivers. The card will be available at all NYPL branches while supplies last. Branches will also give away copies of the children’s book Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library, a picture book detailing Arturo Schomburg’s vision to create the archive that would found the Schomburg collection.
@Akae Beka
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Pretty crazy timing that Brother Malcolm was born 10 days later
Plankton
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Anyone remember when the Black Sands dude had that meet and greet at the Schomberg Center back in 2019? I went when he put out the invite and shook him and his wifes hand.
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Check Out the Latest PUMA Release, Inspired by the Schomburg Center's Collections | The New York Public Library
The newest drop is part of a collab between PUMA North America and the Schomburg Center in celebration of the Center’s 100th Anniversary.
10/01/25
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Schomburg Qur’an Selected for Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s Swearing-In
In a historic first, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will use a Qur’an from NYPL’s Schomburg Center at a midnight swearing-in ceremony.
December 31, 2025—The New York Public Library announced on Wednesday that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will use a Qur’an from the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to take the oath of office at a midnight swearing-in ceremony on New Year’s Eve. This comes as the Schomburg Center is celebrating its centennial. Following the midnight swearing-in ceremony, the Qur’an will be put on public display beginning January 6 in the McGraw Rotunda at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street.
“This marks a significant moment in our city’s history, and we are deeply honored that Mayor-elect Mamdani has chosen to take the oath of office using one of the Library’s Qur’ans,” said Anthony W. Marx, President and CEO of The New York Public Library. “This specific Qur’an, which Arturo Schomburg preserved for the knowledge and enjoyment of all New Yorkers, symbolizes a greater story of inclusion, representation, and civic-mindedness.”
The selection of the Qur’an by the incoming administration was highly symbolic, both because of its connection to one of NYC’s most groundbreaking scholars and for its simple, functional qualities. The black and red ink as well as the small, portable size indicate this Qur’an was intended for an ordinary reader and everyday use. Although neither dated nor signed, the Qur’an’s minute naskh script and its binding, featuring a gilt-stamped medallion filled with a floral composition, suggest it was produced in Ottoman Syria in the 19th century.
The manuscript was part of the personal library of Puerto Rican–born/St Croix descent Black scholar and bibliophile Arturo Schomburg, and among the more than 4,000 items he sold to NYPL in 1926 to found the research collection that today bears his name.
A distinguished historian of the African diaspora, Arturo Schomburg devoted his lifelong passion for collecting to rebutting a teacher’s comment that Black culture lacked major figures and noteworthy history. From prints and manuscripts to rare books and pamphlets, Schomburg set out to assemble “vindicating evidences” that demonstrated the global presence and contributions of people of African descent. The Schomburg Center, which is currently celebrating its 100-year anniversary, has grown its world-class collections from Schomburg’s initial “seed library” to encompass more than 11 million items—including this history-making Qur’an.
Alongside this Qur’an manuscript, Arturo Schomburg collected George Sale's English translation of the Qurʾan, reflecting his deep intellectual engagement with the text beyond its physical form. Completed in the 18th century, this English version includes a scholarly commentary that situates the sacred text within its religious and historical contexts, highlighting Schomburg’s commitment to understanding Islam as a complex and living tradition.
“The Schomburg Center is honored to have an object from its holdings included in this historic moment for New York City,” said Joy Bivins, Director of the Schomburg Center. “As we celebrate 100 years of collecting, preserving, and sharing the riches of global Black culture at this singular institution, we are delighted that Mayor-elect Mamdani selected a Qur’an from our namesake’s personal collection to mark the beginning of his administration.”
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