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Conversations in Black Freedom Studies: Black Arts, Black Spaces & Black Performance
Thursday, October 2 | 6:30 PM | Online
Happening tomorrow! On the spatiality of Black arts and performance, Julius B. Fleming, Jr., (Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation) will share his work on performance and the Civil Rights Movement. Jo-Ann Morgan (The Black Arts Movement and the Black Panther Party in American Visual Culture) will discuss the relationship between the Black Panther Party's visual culture and the Black Arts Movement, and La Donna L. Forsgren (In Search of Our Warrior Mothers: Women Dramatists of the Black Arts Movement) will present her oral histories with women in the movement. Courtney Thorsson (The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture)
will discuss how a network of Black women writers transformed American culture. Teachers are eligible to receive 1.5 CTLE credits for attending. |
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Film still from La noire de…(Black Girl) 1966, Ousmane Sembène
Black on Screen: A Century of Radical Visual Culture | Liberating the Colonized Psyche, Curated by Yasmina Price
Tuesday, October 7 | 5:30 PM | Schomburg Center
Join us for screenings of Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, directed by Isaac Julien, and La noire de… (Black Girl), directed by Ousmane Sembène, as part of our October and November Black on Screen series, themed Global Black Cinema & Anti-colonial Liberation, guest-curated by writer and film programmer, Yasmina Price. She focuses on anti-colonial African cinema and the work of visual artists across the Black diaspora, with a particular interest in the experimental work of women filmmakers. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Price and Amy Sall, author of The African Gaze: Photography, Cinema, and Power. |
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Arturo A. Schomburg's Life & Legacy
Thursday, October 16 | 6 PM | Online
Please join historian and educator Dr. Vanessa Valdés (Diasporic Blackness: The Life and Times of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
) as she discusses the life and legacy of Schomburg Center founder Arturo A. Schomburg. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874, a self-described Afro-boriqueño, he was told by his fifth-grade teacher that Black people had made no discernible contributions to culture or history. He moved to New York City at 17 and made it his lifelong mission to seek out "vindicating evidences" of the contributions of people of African descent, collecting images, artifacts, and other archival materials from the African Diaspora. His personal collection of objects are foundational to the Center's archives, which number over 11 million today. Following Dr. Valdés' presentation, Schomburg Education staff will demonstrate how to use this information with our "Arturo A. Schomburg's Life &
Legacy" lesson, part of our curriculum series, Teaching with the Schomburg Center's Archives. Participating teachers are eligible to earn 1.5 CTLE credits. |
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Black on Screen: A Century of Radical Visual Culture | Chronicles of Cultural Survival, Curated by Yasmina Price
Tuesday, October 21 | 6:30 PM | Schomburg Center
Join us for program two of our October and November Black on Screen series, themed Global Black Cinema & Anti-colonial Liberation and guest-curated by writer and film programmer, Yasmina Price. The screening includes Julie Dash's 1997 short film The Diary of an African Nun and Flora Gomes's feature-length 1992 film Udju Azul di Yonta (The Blue Eyes of Yonta). The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Price and Dr. Jaimee A. Swift, executive director and founder of Black Women Radicals. |
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Photo credit: Jan Kirkham for OneWorld Magazine
Saul Williams on Black Experimentation, Fugitive Pedagogies & the Art of Resistance
Wednesday, October 22 | 7 PM | Schomburg Center
Poet, musician, filmmaker, actor and intellectual Saul Williams discusses the relationships between aesthetic forms and political education in conversation with Dr. Shana Redmond, Director of the Center for the Study of Social Difference. Reflecting on practices of Black experimentation—in language, music, and film—this dialogue explores the various sites of enclosure and foreclosure, from the nation-state to the university, that bear upon the present and what practices are necessary to enact more just futures. Presented in partnership with the University in/and Crisis working group at Columbia University and the Schomburg Center's Black On Screen: A Century of Radical Visual Culture.
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Alice Childress, author, (1960–89), Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center. Digital Collections Image ID: 2006653.
Century of Black Theater Making | Hits & Bits: Alice Childress
Monday, October 23 | 1 PM | Schomburg Center
The Schomburg Center’s new Centennial program series, Century of Black Theater Making, will explore a century of Black theater through conversations and readings of plays that are part of the Schomburg Center's collection. Hits & Bits takes its title from a variety show presented by the legendary theater company American Negro Theatre, Hits, Bits & Skits, and is an afternoon series of staged readings of plays found in the Schomburg Center collections. Our first installment, Hits & Bits: Alice Childress, produced in collaboration with New Federal Theater, will feature one-act plays by Childress, including plays that are unpublished and being presented for the first time in decades.
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Seeding Creativity and Community: 75 Years of the Harlem Writers Guild
Tuesday, October 24 | 6 PM | Schomburg Center
When We Write We Free the World honors the legacy of the authors and leaders including Dr. Maya Angelou, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Rosa Guy, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and many others in the oldest African American Writers Guild in the world. In partnership with the Harlem Writers Guild, we will honor Dr. Brenda Greene of the Center of Black Literature with the inaugural John Oliver Killens Award and feature author, filmmaker, and activist Kevin Powell, along with current writers and notable figures. |
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| More from the Schomburg Center |
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Courtesy of PUMA North America
PUMA North America Debuts Collaboration with the Schomburg Center
Global sports brand PUMA and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture have announced the second drop in their collaboration. As part of this collaboration, PUMA's first employee-led collective of Black creatives, We Are Legends, launched a limited PUMA x Schomburg Center collection blending classic Puma styles with art objects seen at the Schomburg Center.
Discount on PUMA Capsule Collaboration
For a limited time, Schomburg Society members can receive 15% off on the newest PUMA collection inspired by the Schomburg Center with the discount code: WEARELEGENDS25. |
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Photos: Isseu Diouf Campbell and Lisa Herndon
Schomburg Center Debuts First Float at 56th Annual African American Parade
Do you remember the 21st of September to paraphrase the jazz, funk, disco, and rhythm and blues group Earth, Wind & Fire? The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture does. On September 21, 2025, we took part in the 56th Annual African American Day Parade. Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins served as one the Grand Marshals. For the first time, the Schomburg Center had a float in the parade. Experience the day in photos, behind-the-scenes design sketches of the float, and a video clip as the float moved along the parade route. |
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Photo: Jonathan Blanc/ The New York Public Library
100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity
Through June 30, 2026 | Schomburg Center
Curated by Schomburg Center Director Joy L. Bivins, 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity, celebrates the story of the Schomburg Center’s collections, which today number over 11 million objects, and continue to inspire learners, seekers, and creators. The exhibition highlights a century of committed collecting and dedicated stewardship by generations of Schomburg Center librarians, curators, and educators who have nurtured the creation of new knowledge. Plus, listen to our audio guide on Bloomberg Connects to hear commentary from Bivins and Schomburg Center staff, hosted by actor LeVar Burton. |
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Schedule a Tour of the Exhibition
Experience our exhibition, 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity, during a free, one-hour guided tour of the Schomburg Center and 135th Street landmark building. Guests will gain deeper insight into this special exploration of the library's history through the prism of place, people, and material culture. Confirmed reservations are required for all guided tours. |
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Artwork: M. Scott Johnson
Guarionex: Celebrating 100 Years of Black Archival Resistance
Through May 1, 2026 | Countee Cullen Library, 104 West 136th Street
Created by students in our Junior Scholars Program, Guarionex: Celebrating 100 Years of Black Archival Resistance, is a love letter and battle cry! Inspired by Schomburg Center founder Arturo Schomburg's seminal essay "The Negro Digs Up His Past," Guarionex explores Afro-Surrealism through the lens of historical recovery and cultural resilience. Guarionex—taken from the Taíno leader and a pseudonym used by Mr. Schomburg—highlights the commitment to leadership, resistance, and cultural reclamation. |
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Photo: Lisa Herndon
Now Available! Online Applications for the Schomburg Center's Scholars-in-Residence Program
Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025
If you are a postdoctoral scholar, independent researcher, or creative writer who is interested in studying at the Schomburg Center, consider applying to our Scholars-in-Residence Program. It offers long and short-term fellowships designed to support and encourage research and writing on the history, politics, literature, and culture of the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora. Fellows receive a stipend, research support, and more. |
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Photo: Jonathan Blanc/The New York Public Library
While Supplies Last! Schomburg Center Centennial Library Card
For a limited time, when you sign up you can get our special edition Schomburg Centennial library card. It features imagery from Rivers, the brass cosmogram and public art installation located in the Schomburg Center's lobby that honors both Arturo Schomburg and poet Langston Hughes, central figures in the Harlem Renaissance. Available while supplies last. |
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Support the Schomburg Center
Make a Gift & Support the Schomburg CenterMake your next gift today and support the Schomburg Center's educational resources and all we freely offer to this generation and the next of artists, activists, teachers, and scholars.
A Note from the Schomburg Society Membership OfficeAs always, the Schomburg Society membership team is here for you and are happy to answer any questions you have regarding your donation or membership benefits. Please reach out via email to schombur...@nypl.org for the fastest response.
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2nd Annual National Urban Health Conference
October 8, 2025 | 8:30 AM–12 Noon | Schomburg Center
The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce invites you to join health leaders, hospital representatives, public health professionals, and community organizations for a morning of dialogue and innovation to address health disparities and improve health outcomes in Central Harlem and other NYC communities. The conference theme is Your Health is Our Wealth: Addressing Chronic Disease and The Intersection of Health and Technology. |
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Former Junior Scholar Makes Off-Broadway Debut
Thursday, October 30–Sunday, December 7 | Playwrights Horizons
Schomburg Center Junior Scholars Program alumnus, Hayward Leach, will be making his Off-Broadway debut this season in the play, Practice. Hayward was an original member of Junior Scholars where he studied art with M. Scott Johnson and theatre with the late, great Chadwick Boseman. This ensemble psycho-comedy has adult language and themes. |
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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; the Annie E. and Sarah L. Delany Charitable Trusts; and MetLife Foundation.
Leadership support for the Schomburg Center's Centennial is provided by Andreas C. Dracopoulos and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Major support for centennial exhibitions is provided by the MetLife Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation.
The Home to Harlem Initiative is made possible by the Mellon Foundation.
Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is supported by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.
The Schomburg Curriculum was made possible in part by a grant to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, MH-00-19-0031-19.
The work of the Center for Educators and Schools is part of the Library’s overall commitment to our branch patrons and education programs, led by the Merryl H. and James S. Tisch Director of The New York Public Library. Major support for educational programming is provided by Merryl H. and James S. Tisch.
The Center for Educators and Schools is supported in part by a generous grant from the Hearst Foundations.
Support for the Schomburg Junior Scholars program is made possible through the generosity of Puma, The Carver Scholarship Fund, the New York City Council, and The Lanie & Ethel Foundation.
Digital exhibitions at the Schomburg Center are made possible with generous support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. |
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