Schomburg Center Catalog Fall 2019

A

Fall 2019 Programs & Exhibitions But Then You Read Morrison p. 10

From the Director Fall 2019

Welcome to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, here in historic Harlem. Our fall 2019 offering of events, exhibitions, and educational programs takes you on a deep dive into this institution’s many treasures and archives.

In October, our Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery hosts its biennial conference. Enduring Slavery: Resistance, Public Memory, and Transatlantic Archives (p. 21) takes place over three days with over 20 presenters and myriad workshops and opportunities to connect slavery archives to new conversations and scholarship.

Our annual Open House (p. 27) invites you to learn more about our collection, divisions, curators, and librarians, and to discover how we make this extraordinary archive accessible to you. You can view a fascinating cross-section of archival items in three current exhibitions (p. 22–24), the newest of which, A Labor of Love: The Art Collection of Dr. Constance E. Clayton, opens this fall in our Latimer/Edison Gallery.

Other program highlights to note include the day-long tribute to Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison (pictured majestically on the cover), an evening of music to remember the incomparable composer Duke Ellington, and unique conversations with current cultural and hip-hop icons—Rakim, Rick Ross, and Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day.

01 Authors & Archives

06 Community

05 Between the Lines 06 Stage for Debate

27 Open House 27 First Fridays

02 Arts, Ideas & People

07 About Us

09 Talks at the Schomburg 11 Performance 11 Film 12 Theater Talks

32 Map 33 Points of Interest 34 About the Schomburg Center

03 Education

How to register

17 Youth Programs 18 Conversations in Black Freedom Studies 19 Professional Development

evidences” of the richness of Black culture today and throughout history. We invite you to join us here in our home in Harlem.

04 Lapidus Center Presents There’s more

The featured calendar listings are highlights from our full schedule. For the most complete and up-to-date information, please visit: schomburgcenter.org/calendar

Kevin Young Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

21 Lapidus Center Conference 21 Reading Slavery 21 Open Archive 05 Exhibitions

The Schomburg Center continues to connect founder Arturo A. Schomburg’s “vindicating

Cover: Local 1199, Women of Hope Poster Honoring Toni Morrison. Art and Artifacts Division

To register for our free events, please visit: schomburgcenter. eventbrite.com

Subscribe

Sign up for our e-newsletter: nypl.org/schomburgnews

23 A Labor of Love 23 Femmetography 24 A Ballad for Harlem

Connect with us:

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Authors & Archives

Between the Lines

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The Yellow House: A Memoir

by Sarah M. Broom Tuesday, September 10 6:30 PM Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House tells about a hundred years of her family and their relationship to home in a neglected area of one of America’s most mythologized cities, just minutes from the French Quarter in New Orleans East. The book expands the map of New Orleans to include the stories of its lesser known natives and demonstrates how the enduring drives of clan, pride, and familial love resist and defy erasure. The author Sarah M. Broom will be in conversation with Dr. Imani Perry, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius

by Rakim Wednesday, September 25 6:30 PM Rakim reigns as one of hip-hop’s most transformative artists.

Along with his partner Eric B., he recorded 1987’s Paid in Full, the landmark recording that MTV named “the greatest hip-hop album of all time.” Rakim’s inimitable style and lyrics have drawn comparisons to jazz icon Thelonious Monk. His part memoir, part practical writing guide shows anyone how to write better, while entertaining them with rich, engaging stories from Rakim’s life that shaped him as a writer. Join us for a conversation with Rakim and Ralph McDaniels, pioneering TV host and hip-hop historian.

Left: Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day, p. 6

Between the Lines

Stage for Debate

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HERITAGE:

Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day Monday, December 9 6:30 PM Join us for an in-depth conversation with Harlem son and vanguard of hip-hop fashion, Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day, in dialogue with Schomburg Center director Kevin Young. In his remarkable memoir, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem, the author tells his full story for the first time. With his nowlegendary store on 125th street in Harlem, Dapper Dan pioneered high-end streetwear in the 1980s, remixing classic luxury-brand logos into his own innovative, glamorous designs. He dressed cultural icons including Eric B. and Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Mike Tyson, Diddy, Naomi Campbell, and Jay-Z. Decade after decade, Dapper Dan discovered creative ways to flourish.

HERITAGE is a new series that explores the life of living icons whose work has left a lasting impact on popular culture.

Reparations: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Wednesday, November 6 6:30 PM Over the past few years the topic of reparations for slavery has moved from the margins to the mainstream. Whether in Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014 essay in The Atlantic or some other starting point, there is no doubt that questions of whether the descendants of slaves are entitled to some form of economic compensation have now become accepted currency in our political discourse.

In partnership with The Nation, we are hosting a debate and panel discussion to advance the conversation around reparations.

Support the Schomburg Center Activist, educator, and poet Sonia Sanchez, our National Membership Chair (second from left), encourages you to support the Schomburg Center. Here is how.

Join the Schomburg Society Support the mission of the Schomburg Center while enjoying exclusive member benefits, including Shop and event discounts. schomburg.org/join Give to the Schomburg Center A gift in any amount supports public exhibitions, programs, and library resources dedicated to the exploration of the African Diaspora. schomburg.org/give

Leave a Legacy to the Schomburg Center When you become a member of the Legacy Society, your gift preserves and provides access to the richness of Black culture for generations to come. plannedgifts@nypl.org

Talks at the Schomburg

Arts, Ideas & People

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CIN Annual Lecture Series: The Search for Green Gold...

Marijuana Wednesday, October 16 6:00 PM Though marijuana may be an appealing revenue source in Jamaica, such commerce raises challenging societal issues such as who benefits from the revenue and how to address those who were incarcerated for selling a product that becomes a monopoly of the government.

CIN will present a lecture by the Honorable Audley Shaw, Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Join us for a reception beginning at 5:00 PM, followed by the lecture at 6:00 PM.

The Enduring Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education Thursday, October 17 6:30 PM To mark the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, we invite you to join us for a panel and audience discussion to raise awareness of the historic struggle for equal educational opportunities from those who lived it, and of persistent inequality in American public education.

Panelists will include voices featured in the recently released book, Recovering Untold Stories: An Enduring Legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, a collection of essays from the plaintiffs and descendants of plaintiffs whose cases ultimately became Brown v. Board of Education.

Left: Candice Hoyes, vocalist, Ellington to the World p. 11

This event is presented by the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research, in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, and The 74.

Talks at the Schomburg

Performance

Film

Reading Ralph Ellison

Ellington to the World

Who Killed Malcolm X?

Thursday, September 26 7:00 PM

Thursday, December 12 6:30 PM

In celebration of the Harlem Renaissance Centennial, vocalist Candice Hoyes and bassist Noah Jackson present high-flying, lyrical Duke Ellington works. On a Turquoise Cloud paved the way in style and substance for today’s musical theater, soul, and contemporary classical music. This collection has been nearly unknown since Duke Ellington’s performances over 70 years ago, and was reclaimed by Hoyes through research.

The Schomburg Center offers an evening of insights and reflections of acclaimed author Ralph Ellison upon the release of a new work chronicling Ellison’s life in his own words, The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison, edited

by John F. Callahan and Marc C. Conner. Join us as readers and guest panelists take us on a journey into the life and times of Ralph Ellison, from his early years as a struggling student, through the completion of his best known work Invisible Man, for which he won the National Book Award, and into his career as an author, literary critic, professor, and scholar.

Made possible by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation administered by LMCC and with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by LMCC.

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Friday, September 27 6:30 PM Join us for a very special preview screening of the miniseries Who Killed Malcolm X? The work offers a fresh look at the 1965 assassination of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom.

Ark Media producers Phil Bertelsen and Rachel Dretzin will join literary critic, filmmaker, and public historian Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in discussion and audience engagement.

Harriet Friday, October 18 6:00 PM

But Then You Read Morrison Saturday, November 16 1:00–6:00 PM In celebration and remembrance of acclaimed author and Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, artists, authors, scholars, and friends will deliver a day-long reading of Morrison’s texts and offer creative responses to her life and brilliance. The Schomburg Center is proud to have a gift from the author and the Toni Morrison Society, Bench by the Road, presented in 2016 at Toni Morrison’s last appearance on our stage.

This program is presented in collaboration with the Toni Morrison Society.

Carnegie Hall Citywide: Thandiswa Mazwai Tuesday, October 8 7:00 PM Experience the fire in Thandiswa Mazwai’s music. The flame was kindled growing up in Soweto during the dismantling of apartheid and ignited when she joined the visionary band Bongo Maffin. Mazwai’s politically aware lyrics and emotional vocals propelled the band to South African stardom. You can now hear her solo and be captivated by her use of traditional Xhosa rhythms, reggae, kwaito (a South African blend of hiphop and house music sounds), funk, jazz, and more to create music that is simply incendiary.

The Schomburg Center’s Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division presents a screening of Harriet, which opens nationwide on November 1. Harriet tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves. A conversation will follow.

Film

Theater Talks

Liberación Afro Latino Film Festival

As Much as I Can

Wednesday, October 2 3:00 PM Afro-Latino Festival NYC, in partnership with the Schomburg Center, will present films from Puerto Rico, Panama, and the U.S. on the opening day of the Liberación Film Festival.

Featured films are:

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Monday, September 9 6:30 PM Join us for a selection of monologues from the production and conversations exploring the symptoms, systems, and shame of HIV/AIDS in the Black community through theater.

This program is presented in partnership with Native Son and ViiV Healthcare.

3:00 PM Angelica (2016) Marisol Gómez-Mouakad, Director 4:45 PM Panama Al Brown: When the Fist Opens/Cuando el Puño se Abre (2018) Carlos Aguilar, Director 6:00 PM Monsters and Men (2018) Reinaldo Marcus Green, Director

Fall Black Theater Preview Monday, October 7 6:30 PM Hosted by four-time Tony Award–winning producer Ron Simons, join us for our annual Fall Black Theater Preview that will feature performances from highly anticipated productions, conversations, breakthrough writers, and much more. Don’t miss this celebration of Black theater in New York City.

Presented in association with Walk Tall Girl Productions/Black Theater Online.

Above: Scene from the American Negro Theatre production of Henri Christophe 1945. Photographs and Prints Division.

The Schomburg Shop

Curated books, jewelry, decor, and more capturing the global Black experience.

Follow us: instagram.com/ schomburgshop Shop online at schomburgshop.com

Schomburg Center Reading Circle

Schomburg Center Reading Circle

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Schomburg Reading Circle Join the Schomburg in sharing conversations with readers exploring diverse writers and subjects that amplify Black culture and history. The Reading Circle meets Saturdays at 12 noon at Countee Cullen Library on 136th Street, just around the corner from the Schomburg Center.

Saturday, September 28 12:00 Noon Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B. Du Bois

Saturday, November 2 12:00 Noon How To Be an Antiracist

by Ibram X. Kendi

Saturday, September 14 12:00 Noon

Saturday, October 26 12:00 Noon

Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir by Daniel R. Day

The Yellow House

by Sarah M. Broom Saturday, November 16 12:00 Noon Assata: An Autobiography

by Assata Shakur

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Youth Programs

Black Women, Spirit Work & Lemonade

Education

Saturday, November 2 1:00 PM

Junior Scholars Each year, 100 youth ages 11 to 18 participate in our Junior Scholars program. This tuition-free Saturday program during the academic year promotes historical literacy through college-style lectures and presentations, group discussions and activities, and project-based learning. Students generate individual research, original writing, art portfolios, and collaborative multimedia arts projects from their intensive study of the Schomburg Center archives, exhibitions, and educational resources.

The Schomburg Center’s Junior Scholars program is made possible through the generous support of the Carver Scholarship Fund, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., the New York City Council, and the New York State Legislature.

Teen Curators Schomburg Education provides programs and activities for educators and learners of all ages related to our archival collections, which foster new perspectives on Black history, culture, and politics and offer new skills of inquiry, critical thinking, creative expression, and social action. For more, contact schomburged@nypl.org.

Above: Author Elizabeth Acevedo (left) at a signing for her book The Poet X.

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This unique after-school art history and curatorial program enrolls up to 30 high school students each year. Teen Curators is a year-long tuition-free program that uses art education to increase the historical and cultural literacy of teenagers and promotes their intellectual and professional development through curatorial projects and aesthetic engagements with the Schomburg Center and other cultural institutions. Each year the program culminates with a student-curated exhibition featuring their artwork alongside archival materials culled from within the Schomburg Center’s five research divisions.

The Schomburg Center’s Teen Curators program is generously funded for five years by the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.

Youth and their families are invited to join the Schomburg Center’s Junior Scholars for a lecture and discussion with scholar Kinitra Brooks, author of The Lemonade Reader: Beyoncé, Black Feminism and Spirituality.

Teen Night: Open House, Open Mic Edition Saturday, November 9 7:00 PM Youth ages 14 to 18 are invited to join us for the Open House Edition of Teen Night!

Bring a poem, lyrics, and creative spirit to this evening of spoken word, emceeing, singing, and dancing. Teen Night at the Schomburg Center is hosted by the Junior Scholars Program and presented by the Schomburg Education department.

Youth Programs

Conversations In Black Freedom Studies

Conversations In Black Freedom Studies

Professional Development

Film & Conversation: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls

This series of roundtable conversations at the Schomburg Center brings the campus to the community on the first Thursday of each month. Curated by Professors Jeanne Theoharis (Brooklyn College/CUNY) and Komozi Woodard (Sarah Lawrence College), the series introduces a new paradigm that challenges the older geography, leadership, ideology, culture, and chronology of civil rights historiography.

Rap Brown, Police Repression & the Torture Machine

A Ballad for Harlem: 20th Century Harlem History & Place-Based Education

Saturday, December 7 1:00 PM In her book Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls, Monique W. Morris, Ed.D lays out how everyone working with youth can respond proactively with empathy. She reimagines what education might look like if schools placed the flourishing of Black and Brown girls at their center. Join us for a screening of Morris’s documentary PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, followed by a conversation with Dr. Morris about her new book and how to reduce the criminalization of Black girls in our nation’s learning environments. This program is offered in collaboration between the Junior Scholars program and the Schomburg Center departments of Education, Public Programs, and Exhibitions.

Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is made possible through the generous support of Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

Thursday, October 3 6:30 PM This October marks the 50th anniversary of Rap Brown’s autobiography, and it is also Rap Brown’s birthday. Join Arun Kundnani, Flint Taylor, and Simon Balto for this discussion of Rap Brown (Jamil Al-Amin), the Black Power Movement, and government repression—including police violence, FBI surveillance, and the torture machine.

Black Revolution on Campus Thursday, November 7 6:30 PM The Black revolution on campus dared to challenge white racism in American education. Calling all students and activists to join with Stefan Bradley, Martha Biondi, and John Bracey for this discussion of the Black student struggle, Black Studies, and the long efforts at CUNY, in the Ivy League, and across the country to desegregate and liberate the university and the curriculum.

The Black Athlete in the Freedom Struggle Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration & the Liberal Establishment Thursday, September 5 6:30 PM Killer cops, police brutality, and mass incarceration are burning issues in Black America. But how did those problems develop, when did they begin, and who designed them? This roundtable discussion including Max Felker Kantor, LaShawn Harris, and Naomi Murakawa will look at both liberal and conservative support for expanding criminalization and punishment during and since the Civil Rights Movement—and the long struggle to challenge police brutality alongside it.

Thursday, December 5 6:30 PM Black athletes have long propelled the quest for racial equality and social justice, and long been criticized for their freedom fighting. Join Dave Zirin, Wyomia Tyus, and Louis Moore to look at a half century of Black male and female athletes in the freedom struggle.

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Tuesday, November 5 8:30 AM–3:00 PM Teachers are invited to join us in a place-based education case study of Harlem. Dive into the archival collections of the Schomburg Center and the New-York Historical Society in this interdisciplinary day as we examine the history of the neighborhood and the contributions of its residents from the Harlem Renaissance through today.

This workshop is presented with the New-York Historical Society. Register online: nyhistory.org/education/ teachers/workshop-calendar

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Lapidus Center Presents

Lapidus Center Conference

Reading Slavery

Enduring Slavery: Resistance, Public Memory & Transatlantic Archives

To continue your personal exploration of transatlantic slavery, we suggest reading each of the 2019 Harriet Tubman Book Prize finalists:

Thursday, October 10–Saturday, October 12 Please join us for the 2019 Lapidus Center Conference, which will bring together scholars, visual artists, and writers to discuss the history of transatlantic slavery and its afterlives.

The conference will begin at 6 PM on Thursday, October 10, with the awarding of the 2019 Harriet Tubman Book Prize as well as an opening plenary session, 1619 in U.S. Memory. A reception will follow.

Topics such as gender, resistance, speculation and the archives of slavery, digital humanities, abolition, the Civil War, slavery memorialization, and more will follow on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12. There will be presentations by eminent scholars, including Ed Baptist (The Half Has Never Been Told), Herman Bennett (African Kings and Black Slaves), Rebecca Goetz, Marisa Fuentes (Dispossessed Lives), Stephanie Jones-Rogers (They Were Her Property), the poet Marilyn Nelson (The Homeplace and The Fields of Praise), and the architect Julian Bonder (codesigner of the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes, France).

Open Archive

Reparations: The Business of Slavery Wednesday, November 6 1:00 PM The Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery was founded in 2014 with a generous $2.5 million gift from Ruth and Sid Lapidus to generate and disseminate scholarly knowledge and works on the slave trade, slavery, and anti-slavery pertaining to the Atlantic World. The Center supports the work of researchers with long-term and short-term fellowships, ensuring that slavery studies are a cornerstone of the Schomburg Center’s work.

View archival materials, including insurance records, governmental documents, and accounting ledgers, to explore the business of slavery. The rise of many American corporations was made possible, in part, due to the forced labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Some of these companies still thrive today. This open archive is driven by questions about how corporations and slaveholders determined the value of enslaved people, how investments in slavery impacted antebellum economies, and how strategic returns to slavery’s archive for evidence might impact ongoing reparations debates. Presented by Dr. Michelle Commander, associate director and curator of the Lapidus Center.

The Captive’s Quest for Freedom: Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the Politics of Slavery

by R.J.M. Blackett

Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora

by Kevin Dawson

Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom

by Jessica A. Krug

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Exhibitions

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A Labor of Love

Exhibitions

Opening September 12 Latimer/Edison Gallery Join us for the opening of A Labor of Love: The Art Collection of Dr. Constance E. Clayton, featuring artwork by celebrated African American artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Clayton Collection, donated to the Schomburg Center in 2016, is housed in the newly renovated Art and Artifacts Division and includes works

by Romare Bearden, Barkley Hendricks, Dox Thrash, and Barbara Chase-Riboud. The special Schomburg Society members-only preview begins at 5:00 PM.

Femmetography: The Gaze Shifted Through May 2020 American Negro Theatre The Schomburg Center is the leading venue in the greater New York metropolitan area for exhibitions on the history and culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora.

Each year, we curate and host exhibitions at the Schomburg Center and online that are free and open to the public.

Above: Four Friends

by Laura Wheeler Waring, c. 1940s, oil on canvas.

Gift of Dr. Constance Clayton in memory and honor of her mother Mrs. Willabell Clayton.

Art and Artifacts Division.

This exhibition features portraiture, experimental photography, and archival materials from the Schomburg Center’s research divisions curated by secondary school students in our Teen Curators program. For this exhibition, students drew inspiration from Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe’s 1986 opus, Viewfinders: Black Women Photographers, the first book to document Black women photographers. As a new generation engages with this work, they wonder: what does the Black feminine gaze mean today?

Exhibitions

A Ballad for Harlem Conversations

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A Ballad for Harlem Conversations explore themes, people, and places found in the latest exhibition on view at the Schomburg Center.

Harlem Honeys & Bears Wednesday, September 18 6:30 PM Featuring artist Modupeola Fadugba and Luther Gales, member of the Harlem Honeys and Bears.

Memory and Gentrification A Ballad for Harlem Through December 31 Main Exhibition Hall Often called the Black Mecca, Harlem has long provided the most visible example of Black placemaking in the 20th and 21st centuries, marked by ebbs and flows of unrest and genius, dreams realized and dreams deferred. A Ballad for Harlem contains recent acquisitions and collection highlights related to the Schomburg Center’s broader Home to Harlem initiative and examines several strands of the wide world that is Harlem. Foundational figures like Langston Hughes serve as a guide across the century that the Schomburg Center has borne witness to Harlem’s changing same.

Thursday, October 24 6:30 PM Screening of The Last Black Man in San Francisco and talk back following the film.

Organized Labor Tuesday, October 29 6:30 PM Conversation featuring author Eric K. Washington.

Sculptor Augusta Savage Wednesday, November 13 6:30 PM Artistic vision and inclusion in evolving communities of color featuring Dr. Jeffreen Hayes with Niama Sandy.

Barber Shop Chronicles Monday, December 2 6:30 PM Black male bonding and the community barber shop.

This exhibition and corresponding public programs are sponsored in part by Gucci, and the publication, Dapper Dan’s Harlem.

Schomburg Center programs and exhibitions are supported in part by the City of New York; the State of New York; the New York City Council Black, Latino and Asian Caucus; the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus; the Rockefeller Foundation Endowment for the Performing Arts; and the Annie E. and Sarah L. Delany Charitable Trusts.

Special Events With our convenient Harlem location and friendly staff, the Schomburg Center is the perfect venue to make your next special event extraordinary.

From intimate gatherings to lavish extravaganzas, we offer several magnificent spaces that can be customized to fit any occasion.

Contact Us: 212.491.2257 schomburgcenterevents@ nypl.org

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Open House

First Fridays

On the first Friday of every month, join us at the Schomburg Center for our popular evening social gatherings featuring a DJ, beverages, and food, with extended hours to view our exhibitions.

Community

6:00–10:00 PM Register: facebook.com/ schomburgcenter

Open House: Environmentalism in Black Culture Saturday, November 9 12:00 Noon—6:00 PM

Save the Date Annual Schomburg Center Black Comic Book Festival Friday, January 17 & Saturday, January 18, 2020

Above: First Friday, Afro-Beat Edition

The Schomburg Center’s annual Open House is an opportunity for the public to meet our librarians, archivists, and curators. Visit our renovated divisions, learn how to conduct your own research using the Schomburg’s collections, visit the current exhibitions, and attend unique programs.

The Schomburg Open House has something for all ages to learn, explore, and enjoy! This year we will explore the theme Environmentalism in Black Culture and respond to these questions: What is environmental justice? Historically, how have Black communities, scholars, and activists acted to protect the environment and ensure fair distribution of environmental benefits and alleviate the burdens?

Eventbrite: schomburgcenter. eventbrite.com

Labor Day Carnival Edition September 6

I Love the 90s Edition October 4

Afro-Beat Edition November 1

Holiday Edition December 6

Schomburg Shop Holiday Marketplace Friday, November 29 & Saturday, November 30 Join us from 12:00 Noon each day for culturally creative holiday shopping with local artisans and vendors, as well as Schomburg Shop literary selections, children’s books, and unique Schomburg Center brand items.

Langston Hughes Birthday Bash Edition February 7, 2020

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Calendar Listings

September

Calendar Listings

October

November

Wednesday, October 2 • 3:00 PM Film Liberación Afro Latino Film Festival

Friday, November 1 • 6:00–10:00 PM First Fridays Afro-Beat Edition

Thursday, October 3 • 6:30 PM Conversations in Black Freedom Studies Rap Brown, Police Repression & the Torture Machine

Saturday, November 2 • 12:00 PM Schomburg Reading Circle How to Be an Antiracist

by Ibram X. Kendi

Friday, October 4 • 6:00–10:00 PM First Fridays I Love the 90s Edition

Saturday, November 2 • 1:00 PM Youth Programs Black Women, Spirit Work & Lemonade

Monday, October 7 • 6:30 PM Theater Talks Fall Black Theater Preview Wednesday, September 4 • 6:30 PM Schomburg Society An Evening with Rick Ross Thursday, September 5 • 6:30 PM Conversations in Black Freedom Studies Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration & the Liberal Establishment Friday, September 6 • 6:00–10:00 PM First Fridays Labor Day Carnival Edition Monday, September 9 • 6:30 PM Theater Talks As Much as I Can Tuesday, September 10 • 6:30 PM Between the Lines The Yellow House

by Sarah M. Broom Thursday, September 12 • 6:00 PM Exhibitions Opening of A Labor of Love Saturday, September 14 • 12:00 Noon Schomburg Reading Circle Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem by Daniel R. Day Wednesday, September 18 • 6:30 PM Exhibitions A Ballad for Harlem Conversation: Harlem Honeys & Bears

Tuesday, October 8 • 7:00 PM Performance Carnegie Hall Citywide: Thandiswa Mazwai Thursday through Saturday, October 10–12 Lapidus Center Conference Enduring Slavery: Resistance, Public Memory & Transatlantic Archives Wednesday, October 16 • 6:00 PM Talks at the Schomburg CIN Annual Lecture: The Search for Green Gold...Marijuana Thursday, October 17 • 6:30 PM Talks at the Schomburg The Enduring Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education Friday, October 18 • 6:00 PM Film Harriet Thursday, October 24 • 6:30 PM Exhibitions A Ballad for Harlem Conversation: Memory and Gentrification Saturday, October 26 • 12:00 Noon Schomburg Reading Circle The Yellow House

by Sarah M. Broom

Wednesday, September 25 • 6:30 PM Between the Lines Sweat the Technique by Rakim

Wednesday, November 6 • 1:00 PM Open Archive Reparations: The Business of Slavery Wednesday, November 6 • 6:30 PM Stage for Debate Reparations: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Thursday, November 7 • 6:30 PM Conversations in Black Freedom Studies Black Revolution on Campus Saturday, November 9 • 12:00 Noon–6:00 PM Community Schomburg Open House: Environmentalism in Black Culture Saturday, November 9 • 7:00 PM Youth Programs Teen Night: Open House, Open Mic Edition Wednesday, November 13 • 6:30 PM Exhibitions A Ballad for Harlem Conversation: Sculptor Augusta Savage Saturday, November 16 • 12:00 Noon Schomburg Reading Circle Assata: An Autobiography

by Assata Shakur Saturday, November 16 • 1:00–6:00 PM Talks at the Schomburg But Then You Read Morrison

Thursday, September 26 • 7:00 PM Performance Ellington to the World: Generational Power of Black Culture & Spaces

Friday & Saturday, November 29 & 30 • 12:00 Noon Community Schomburg Shop Holiday Marketplace

Friday, September 27 • 6:30 PM Film Who Killed Malcolm X? Saturday, September 28 • 12:00 Noon Schomburg Reading Circle Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B. Du Bois

Tuesday, November 5 • 8:30 AM–3:00 PM Professional Development A Ballad for Harlem: 20th Century Harlem History & Place-Based Education

Tuesday, October 29 • 6:30 PM Exhibitions A Ballad for Harlem Conversation: Organized Labor

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December

Monday, December 2 • 6:30 PM Exhibitions A Ballad for Harlem Conversation: Barber Shop Chronicles Thursday, December 5 • 6:30 PM Conversations in Black Freedom Studies The Black Athlete in the Freedom Struggle Friday, December 6 • 6:00–10:00 PM First Fridays Holiday Edition Saturday, December 7 • 1:00 PM Youth Programs Film & Conversation: Education for the Liberation of Black & Brown Girls Monday, December 9 • 6:30 PM Between the Lines HERITAGE: Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day Thursday, December 12 • 6:30 PM Talks at the Schomburg Reading Ralph Ellison

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Leave a Legacy “ I am a supporter of New York City cultural institutions that are dedicated to the preservation of African American history, because I feel an obligation to ensure that future generations are aware of what came before them and are proud of the struggle and resistance that was endured on their behalf.”

—Esther D. Curtwright

Volunteer at the Schomburg!

Schomburg Center volunteers play an important role in helping us achieve our mission.

Volunteers have the opportunity to share their talents, learn more about the Schomburg, and engage with the community while contributing to the Schomburg Center’s success.

Apply to become a Schomburg Center volunteer or docent today.

212.491.2252 schomburgcenter.org/ volunteer

Ways to leave a legacy to the Schomburg Center • Name the Schomburg Center as a beneficiary in your will or living trust.

• Designate the Schomburg Center as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, financial account, or life insurance policy.

• Arrange for a charitable gift annuity and receive lifetime payments.

Individuals who leave a legacy to the Schomburg Center are honored during their lifetime with membership to the Library's legacy society and receive exclusive invitations to Library events, discounts, and recognition in donor publications.

To register or for more information, please contact the Office of Planned Giving at 212.930.0652 or PlannedGifts@nypl.org

Map

Points of Interest

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. A research center within The New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center features diverse programming and collections spanning over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture. Learn more at schomburgcenter.org.

Main 3 Photographs and Prints Division

Administrative Offices

2 Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division 1 Main Entrance

Latimer/Edison Gallery

Schomburg Shop

C Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division

Langston Hughes

The Cosmogram

1 Langston Hughes Lobby and Auditorium

The spiritual center of the Schomburg Center, and memorial to Arturo Schomburg and Langston Hughes. Hughes’s ashes are buried beneath this public art installation, Rivers, designed by multidisciplinary artist Houston Conwill, that includes lines from Hughes’s poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

Cosmogram BR Scholars’ Center

3 Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division 2 Art and Artifacts Division 1F Exhibition Hall

Media Gallery

BF American Negro Theatre

(Seasonal) BR Toni Morrison’s Bench by the Road

Media Gallery

Courtyard

Langston Hughes Lobby Cosmogram

Bench by the Road

BR Shona Statue: Dreaming of Her Own Child Shona Statue

Latimer/Edison Gallery

Baldwin Portrait

Shop Schomburg Portrait Main Entrance

Langston Hughes Lobby

Landmark

Courtyard Exhibition Hall

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Langston Hughes Auditorium

Aaron Douglas Murals Latimer/Edison Gallery Aaron Douglas is considered the foremost visual artist of the Harlem Renaissance.

In 1934, Douglas was commissioned under the sponsorship of the Public Works of Art Project (WPA) to paint a series of murals for The New York Public Library’s 135th Street branch. The resulting four panels—Song of the Towers, From Slavery Through Reconstruction, An Idyll of the Deep South, and The Negro in an African Setting—are collectively titled Aspects of Negro Life and are now located in the Aaron Douglas Reading Room, visible from the Latimer/Edison Gallery.

The American Negro Theatre Landmark Established in 1940, the American Negro Theatre grew to become one of the most influential Black theaters of its time. Notable actors such as Sidney Poitier, Canada Lee, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, and Harry Belafonte performed at the American Negro Theatre, which also provided a platform for Black playwrights, actors, and directors to hone their craft.

About the Schomburg Center

Directory

Connect with Us

Research Divisions

Address 515 Malcolm X Boulevard @135th St. in Harlem Take 2 or 3 train to 135th St.

Art & Artifacts 212.491.2241 | schomburgart@nypl.org Documents, preserves, and interprets art and artifacts by and about people of African descent.

Building Hours Mon, Thurs–Sat: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM Tues, Wed: 10:00 AM–8:00 PM Sun: Closed Shop Hours Mon–Wed: 12:00 Noon–6:00 PM Thurs–Sat: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM Extended hours for select events Public Programs schomburgprograms@nypl.org Schomburg Shop schomburgshop@nypl.org 212.491.2206 Space Rentals schomburgcenterevents@nypl.org 212.491.2257

Portrait of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, bibliophile, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. (1900–1935).

The Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints—the forerunner to today’s Schomburg Center—opened in 1925 as a special collection of the 135th Street Branch Library to meet the needs of a changing community.

The Division first won international acclaim in 1926, when the personal collection of the distinguished Puerto Rican-born Black scholar and bibliophile, Arturo (Arthur) Alfonso Schomburg, was added. His collection included more than 5,000 books, 3,000 manuscripts, 2,000 etchings and paintings, and several thousand pamphlets. Schomburg served as curator of the Division from 1932 until his death in 1938.

In 1940, the Division was renamed the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature, History and Prints in honor of its founder.

In 1972, the Schomburg Collection was designated as one of the Research Libraries of The New York Public Library and became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, named a National Historic Landmark in 2017.

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Support the Schomburg Center schomburg.org/joinnow 212.491.2252 Volunteer schomburgvolunteers@nypl.org 212.491.2252 Accessibility The Schomburg Center is committed to providing accessible programs and services for patrons with disabilities.

All facilities and entrances are wheelchair accessible. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation is available for most events with at least two weeks advance notice.

Please contact Schomburg Programs at 212.491.2049 or email accessibility@nypl.org for more information.

Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books 212.491.2224 | schomburgarchives@nypl.org Preserves rare, unique, primary materials that document the history and culture of the African diaspora.

Moving Image & Recorded Sound 212.491.2270 | schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org Documents the experiences of people of African descent via film, music, and spoken arts recordings.

Photographs & Prints 212.491.2057 | schomburgphotography@nypl.org Documentary and fine art photographs of Black history and culture, with a focus on the work of Black photographers.

Jean Blackwell Hutson Research & Reference 212.491.2218 | schomburgreference@nypl.org Books, serials, and microforms focusing on the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.

No appointment required to consult a librarian or to use for reading and studying.

Arrange a Tour 212.491.2260 | schomburgtours@nypl.org To schedule a docent-led tour for groups of 15 or more, email schomburgtours@nypl.org.

Requests must be made 30 days in advance.

Get a library card nypl.org/librarycard Contact a librarian jbhlibrarian@nypl.org 917-ASK-NYPL

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VISIT US! 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem Take 2 or 3 train to 135th Street Mon, Thurs–Sat: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM Tues, Wed: 10:00 AM–8:00 PM Sun: Closed