Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938) was a historian and writer and central figure of the Harlem Renaissance.

He was born in Puerto Rico--the son of a freeborn black woman from St. Croix and a white German merchant.  He was educated at St. Thomas College in the then Danish-ruled Virgin Islands.

Schomburg moved to New York City in 1891.  He was a staunch advocate of Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and called himself "Afroborinqueno."

Schomburg worked as a teacher, and a law firm clerk among other things.  He wrote on the side and began publishing academic histories and pamphlets.

In 1911, Schomburg founded with John Edward Bruce the Negro Society for Historical Research.  In 1916, he published a Bibliographical Checklist of American Negro Poetry.  In 1927, the New York Public Library bought Schomburg's book and art collection.  Schomburg became the curator of the collection and a library was named in his honor.  Schomubrg also helped curate the collection of Fisk University.

In 1938, Schomburg died suddenly after having dental surgery.  He was survived by his second wife, and three children from his first marriage and two from his second.--Heidi Durrow

 

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Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by The New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience.  Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog!  Thanks for reading.  And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,  2013. Copyright 2014.

     

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