1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Over the 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: last eight years of working on this show, the Schaumberg 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: has come up in a lot of my work. Research 7 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: into the Tulsa massacre reference documents in the Schoenberg collections. 8 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: Research into Red Summer included one of the Center's online 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: exhibitions when I researched Shirley Chisholm that referenced an interview 10 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: in the Schaumberg Center's Oral History tape collection. A while back, 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: we interviewed John B. King Jr. About the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: He took that document on a seven city tour that 13 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: started at the Shawnberg Center. So I've personally used the 14 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: Schaumberg Centers online resources, and then the center is also 15 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: just all over the footnotes and the papers that I 16 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: have read for this show. I just put the word 17 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: Schaumberg into the the folder where I have a ton 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: of stuff save and it was like blooh, I here's 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: thirty five documents that I'll have the word Schamberg in 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: them somewhere. So honestly, I'm really embarrassed that it has 21 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: taken me this long to wonder, Wait, who is Schaumberg, 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: and that happened thanks to stumbling across the name Arturo 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: Alfonso Schamberg in another context, and then wondering is that 24 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: the same person that the Schaumberg Center is named after? 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: It was the same person. He was an Afro Puerto 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: Rican activist and collector and Jamaican American historian and journalist. 27 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: Jewel Augustus Rogers nicknamed him the Sherlock Holmes of Negro history, 28 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: having researched his life and work out. I'm just really 29 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: annoyed that his name was not immediately familiar to me 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: the very first time I ever heard of the Schaumberg Center. 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: He is far less well known than a lot of 32 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: his contemporaries from the Harlem Renaissance are today. So we're 33 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: going to try to rectify that a little bit with 34 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: this episode. Arturo Alfonso Schomberg was born on January seventy 35 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: four and what's now the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, 36 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico. His mother was Maria Josefa, a free born 37 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: woman from Saint Croix who was a midwife and a laundress. 38 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: His father is often cited as Carlos Frederico Schomberg, who 39 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: was born in Puerto Rico and had German ancestry. Arturo's 40 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: parents were not married, and it doesn't seem that he 41 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: ever met or was legally acknowledged by his father are true. 42 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: Also had a younger sister named Dolores. At the time, 43 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony, and although there were schools, 44 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: there was no free public at accation system accessible to 45 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: everyone yet, and most of the schools that did exist 46 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: charged tuition. It's possible that Schoenberg spent some time at 47 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: one of these schools, although the records that could have 48 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: confirmed that were destroyed when the United States invaded Puerto Rico. 49 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: In It seems that most of Schoenberg's education was more informal, 50 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: so things like clubs and study groups and self study 51 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: at libraries, but he described one of the experiences that 52 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: had a particular impact on him as happening in a 53 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: fifth grade classroom. They did not learn about any black 54 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: figures when studying history and he asked the teacher if 55 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: black people had a history, and she said no, so 56 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: he decided that one day he would prove her wrong. 57 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: At one point, Schoenberg's mother returned to Saint Croix, so 58 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: he spent some time there while growing up as well, 59 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: but a lot of his more formative experiences took place 60 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican journalist Jose julian A Coasta 61 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: was one of Schaumberg's mentors and had a huge influence 62 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: on him. A Costa had been part of the abolition 63 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: movement before the Spanish Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico 64 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy three. That was just the year before 65 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: Schamberg was born. Another big influence was Salvador Brow. Like Schaumberg, 66 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: Brow was an autodid act, and in spite of being 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: self taught, he went on to be Puerto Rico's official historian. 68 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: Brow's work in history also included the contributions of black people, 69 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: when many other histories did not. Schaumberg eventually became an 70 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: apprentice at a print shop in San Juan, and at 71 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: the age of seventeen he moved to New York City. 72 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: There aren't really any details documented anywhere of what led 73 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: him to make this decision and especially to go apparently 74 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: by himself. He arrived there on April seventeenth, eighteen ninety one, 75 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: carrying some letters of introduction. These included one from Puerto 76 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: Rican nationalist Jose Gonzalez font who was his boss at 77 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: the print shop, and from tabac arrows or cigar workers 78 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico. He lived in New York for most 79 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 1: of the rest of his life after this, moving from 80 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: Manhattan to Harlem and then to Brooklyn. When Schaumberg arrived 81 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: in New York, the Puerto Rican immigrant community in the 82 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: United States was quite small, and the idea of a 83 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,559 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican racial or ethnic identity had not really evolved yet. 84 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: That started happening more in the nineteen thirties after more 85 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: people started moving from the island to the continental US, 86 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: but the Cuban immigrant community was larger, particularly in Tampa, Florida, 87 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: and in New York City. People had moved from Cuba 88 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: to the United States at this point for a number 89 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: of reasons. One was the Ten Years War, which had 90 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: spanned from eighteen sixty eight to eighteen seventy eight. Like 91 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico, Cuba was a Spanish colony, and the Ten 92 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: Years War was an uprising that's generally marked as the 93 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: beginning of the Cuban independence movement. People fled this violence 94 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: and instability where they were exiled because of their involvement. 95 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: Tariffs also made it a lot more profitable for companies 96 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: to import tobacco to the United States rather than importing 97 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: finished cigars from Cuba, So cigar makers built factories in 98 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: Florida and New York, and then they hired cigar makers 99 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: from Cuba to work at them. When Schaumberg arrived in 100 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: New York, the first community he found was among Cuban 101 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: tabaqueros in Manhattan. He described his own identity as Afro 102 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: born Keno, which was a Cuban term for black Puerto Ricans, 103 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: and many of the tabacados were politically very active, continuing 104 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: to advocate for Cuban independence and providing money and supplies 105 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: to support a potential armed uprising against Spanish colonial rule. 106 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: Many Cuban activists also extended their work to include Puerto Rico, 107 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: since Cuba and Puerto Rico were Spain's two remaining colonies 108 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean. Some of the first connections Schaumberg made 109 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: in New York were with Afro Cuban activist Raphael Sarah 110 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: and with Puerto Rican Floor Berga, and both of them 111 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: were deeply involved in the independence movements for Spain's Caribbean colonies. 112 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: He also became a friend and collaborator with Cuban revolutionary 113 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: Jose Marti. Along with other activists, Schaumberg and Sarah co 114 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: founded Las dos Antillas or The Two Islands on April third, 115 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two. This organization contributed money, medicine, and weapons 116 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: to independence fighters on both islands. Schaumberg served as the 117 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: organizations secretary. He also traveled to New Orleans, which was 118 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: another locust of Cuban independence activity, in eighteen ninety two 119 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: and joined the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. 120 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: In addition to his work and the independence movement, Schaumberg 121 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: also taught Spanish while taking night classes at a high 122 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: school and studying English. He joined a dominantly Spanish speaking 123 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: Masonic lodge called El sold At Cuba number thirty eight 124 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety two. This lodge was affiliated with the 125 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: Prince Hall Mason's which was established as a branch of 126 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: Freemasonry for Black Americans in seventeen eighty four. Schaumberg had 127 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: become a leader in this lodge by nineteen ten, and 128 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: then he also worked at a variety of different jobs, 129 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: including being an elevator operator, a bell hop, and a messenger. 130 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: On June thirtieth, eighteen ninety five, Schaumberg married Elizabeth Hatcher, 131 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: who was known as Bessie and she was a black 132 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: woman from Virginia. M They would go on to have 133 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: three children, Maximo Gomez, Arturo Alfonso Jr. And King's Lea 134 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: Guarion Neck. Elizabeth died in nineteen hundred, at which point 135 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: their children went to live with her family in Virginia. 136 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: An armed uprising started in Cuba in eighteen ninety five, 137 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: and in eighteen ninety seven, amid active fighting in Cuba, 138 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: Spain applied the rights of Spain their citizenship to both 139 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: Cuba and Puerto Rico, including giving men over the age 140 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: of twenty five the right to vote, and then on 141 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: November twenty five of that year, Spain also gave Puerto 142 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: Rico the right to self government, with the first elections 143 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: under that new system held in March of the ongoing 144 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: conflict between Cuba and Spain was also sparking tensions between 145 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: Spain and the United States. Spain's efforts to put down 146 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: the Cuban Uprising were widely covered and sometimes sensationalized in 147 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: the U S. Press. Demands for the US to intercede 148 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: in Cuba grew after the U s. S. Maine exploded 149 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: in Havannah Harbor on February. By April, Spain and the 150 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: US were at war, and this conflict is often called 151 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: the Spanish American War, but since the US was entering 152 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: an ongoing conflict between Spain and Cuba, it is also 153 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: called the Spanish Cuban American War. Yes, occasionally people also 154 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: include the Philippines and that since the Philippines was an 155 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: involved with all of this and had its own outside 156 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: the scope of this podcast stuff happening. So this war 157 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: formally ended with the Treaty of Paris on December tenth, 158 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: and under the terms of this treaty, Cuba became independent, 159 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: while Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to 160 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: the United States. That means that Puerto Rico's time as 161 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: an autonomous island had really been pretty short lived. Obviously, 162 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: This is the absolute thinnest of overviews of all of this, 163 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: But the end result was that the independence movement that 164 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: Schaumberg had been so involved with in the United States 165 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: mostly came to an end. Cuba had become independent, although 166 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: it was still occupied by US troops, and many, but 167 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: certainly not all, of the Puerto Rican community had started 168 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: to focus more on cooperation with the US rather than independence, 169 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: and divisions started to really grow within that part of 170 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: the movement. The last meeting of the Puerto Rican section 171 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: of the Cuban Revolutionary Party was held on August two, 172 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: and at that meeting, it's members voted to dissolve it. 173 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: Las dos Antias dissolved as well, and some of the 174 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: people involved with these and other organizations returned to the Caribbean. 175 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,839 Speaker 1: Some like Jose Marti, had already returned and had been 176 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: killed in the uprising, but others remained in the US 177 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: and shifted their attention towards socialism, labor rights, or other 178 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: social and political issues. Schaumbergs shifted his attention some as well, 179 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: and we will get to that after a sponsor break. 180 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: After the end of the Spanish Cuban American War, Altero 181 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: Alfonso Schomberg turned more of his attention to looking for 182 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: works by black writers, artists, and historical figures from all 183 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: over the world and collecting and documenting that work. This 184 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: really wasn't new for him. He had studied and worked 185 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: with numerous collectors and bibliophiles, many of whom were mostly 186 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: self taught like he was, and they were all collecting 187 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: and documenting books and articles and artwork and other works 188 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: that were related to their own lives and communities. Schaumberg 189 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: had a really good memory, and he had a knack 190 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: for seeking out information, and he put that to use 191 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:26,439 Speaker 1: trying to build a collection that would demonstrate the achievements 192 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: of black people all over the world. At this point, 193 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: this was not something that he could turn into a 194 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: paying job, though. In nineteen o one he got a 195 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: position as a clerk at a law office, and he 196 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: told people that he was studying for the bar, but 197 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: because of his lack of formal education, or at least 198 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: the lack of any documentation of one, he was denied 199 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: from taking it. On March seventeenth, nineteen o two, he 200 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: got married again, this time to Elizabeth Morrow Taylor, a 201 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: black woman from North Carolina. They went on to have 202 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: two children, Reginald Stanfield and Nathaniel Jose. In nineteen o five, 203 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: Schoenberg made a trip back to Puerto Rico and also 204 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: visited the Dominican Republic, and in nineteen o six he 205 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: was hired at Banker's Trust Company, and he would work 206 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 1: there for more than twenty years. He started out as 207 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: a messenger and worked his way up to being a 208 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: supervisor of the Caribbean and Latin American mail section, especially 209 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: at the start of his career there. This job really 210 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: didn't pay him very much, but it did give him 211 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,080 Speaker 1: enough money to buy books and documents and artwork for 212 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: his collection. He also did some of his writing, because 213 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: he wrote a lot, which we're going to talk more 214 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: about in a bit. He did some of his writing 215 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: and his collecting on company time, sometimes really to the 216 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: annoyance of his own supervisors. He has some letters that 217 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:47,839 Speaker 1: he's written to friends that kind of read like, man, 218 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: my boss will not get off my case because I 219 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: am trying to track down this book right now. By 220 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: the early nineteens, Schaumberg was becoming widely known in New 221 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: York for that growing collection and his research into black history. 222 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: In nineteen eleven, he co founded the Negro Society for 223 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: Historical Research with journalist and Pan africanist John Edward Bruce, 224 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: also known as Bruce Grit. Bruce served as president and 225 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: Schomberg served as secretary and treasurer. Like Schaumberg, Bruce was 226 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: an autodidact. He had been enslaved from birth in eighteen 227 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: fifty six and had largely educated himself after the U. S. 228 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: Civil War. According to its charter, the Negro Society for 229 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: Historical Research was established quote to show that the Negro 230 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: race has a history which anti dates that of the 231 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: proud Anglo Saxon race. Although David Fulton was formally tapped 232 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: to be the Society's librarian, Schomberg ultimately took on a 233 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: lot of that work. Over the course of the society's existence, 234 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: Schaumberg collected about three hundred volumes for its library, and 235 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: when the society eventually disbanded, Schaumberg folded those into his 236 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: own collection, which was housed in his home, but was 237 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: something that he made available for other people to use. 238 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: In July of nine thirteen, Schaumberg delivered a paper to 239 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: the teachers summer class at Cheney Institute in Pennsylvania that's 240 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: now Cheney University and is recognized as the oldest historically 241 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: black college or university in the United States. This address 242 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: was titled Racial Integrity, A Plea for the establishment of 243 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: a Chair of Negro History in our Schools and Colleges, etcetera. 244 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: It called for universities to have chairs of Black history 245 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: just like for any other subject, and to adopt standards 246 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: that included quote the practical history of the Negro race 247 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: from the dawn of civilization to the present time. He 248 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: went on in this address the walk through the contributions 249 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: of various Black writers and thinkers who were largely omitted 250 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: from history texts, before continuing quote, we need in the 251 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: coming dawn the man who will give us the background 252 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: for our future. Or it matters not whether he comes 253 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: from the cloisters of the university or from the rank 254 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: and file of the fields. We need the historian and 255 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: philosopher to give us, with trenchant pen the story of 256 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: our forefathers, and let our soul and body, with bosphorescent light, 257 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: brighten the chasm that separates us. Schaumberg saw all this 258 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: knowledge about black history as something that could uplift people 259 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: of African descent all over the world, and his other 260 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: work touched on that idea as well. Towards the end 261 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: of World War Two, he had some involvement in Marcus 262 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, although 263 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: he was never formally a member. His work with Garvey 264 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: included assisting him with historical research and doing translations between 265 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: English and Spanish. In nineteen fourteen, John Wesley Cromwell and 266 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: John Edward Bruce recommended Schoenberg for membership and the American 267 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: Negro Academy. The American Negro Academy was a stablished in 268 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties seven by John Wesley Cromwell, and its founding 269 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: members included W. E. B. Du Bois and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. 270 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: Its purpose was to produce and promote academic scholarship by 271 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: and for Black people. Schaumberg became its president in nineteen twenties, 272 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: serving in that role until the Academy was disbanded in 273 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: nineteen Schaumberg's leadership of the American Negro Academy was criticized 274 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:29,919 Speaker 1: by some of its members. The organization already seemed to 275 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: be starting to wane when he became its president, but 276 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 1: his light complexion and his Puerto Rican upbringing led some 277 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: people to question whether he was black enough to be there. 278 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: John Edward Bruce had recommended him for membership, but when 279 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: it came to his presidency, he described Schaumberg as a 280 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: quote half breed who did not quote think black. Schomberg 281 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: made a point to remind the rest of the Academy 282 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: that there were black people all over the world, not 283 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 1: just in the United States, and that men a, we're 284 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: facing similar racism and oppression to what they experienced in 285 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: the US. But that really just fed into perceptions that 286 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: his attentions and his loyalties were to the Hispanic world 287 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: and not the Black community, which really was almost the 288 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: opposite of the point that he was trying to make. 289 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: It didn't help that Schaumberg had probably over committed himself 290 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: by agreeing to become the Academy's president. He had become 291 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,640 Speaker 1: the master of his Masonic lodge, which had been renamed 292 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: as Prince Hall Lodge in nineteen fourteen. This name change 293 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: reflected a demographic shift. The Spanish speaking membership of l 294 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: Solda Cuba had declined, and the lodge had boosted its 295 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: numbers by recruiting more English speaking black members. Schaumberg had 296 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: personally translated the lodgest Spanish language records and documents into 297 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: English so that they would still be accessible to its members. 298 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: He had also become Grand Secretary of the New York 299 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: State Grand Lodge of the Prince Hall Mason So between 300 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: this the academy his day job in his collecting, which 301 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: will remind you, he also made his home publicly available. 302 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: He had a whole lot on his plate. Oh yeah, 303 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,360 Speaker 1: and also he had gotten married for the third time 304 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen after the death of his second wife. 305 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 1: His third wife was Elizabeth Greene, and they went on 306 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: to have three children together, Fernando Alfonso, Dolores Maria, and 307 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,040 Speaker 1: Carlos Plasto. And yes, each of the three women he 308 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: married was named Elizabeth. In nineteen eighteen, the Schaumbergs moved 309 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: to a house on what some people would call Kusciusco Street. 310 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: That street's name is apparently a matter of much debate. Yes, 311 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: I watched, I watched a whole video of New Yorker's 312 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: disagreeing on how to say the name of it. But 313 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: in any case, it is in Brooklyn, U and that 314 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: became part home and part private library. Just in terms 315 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: of people that we've talked about on the show before. 316 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: The library included Frederick Douglas's newspapers, assigned copy of Phyllis 317 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: Wheatley's poems along with numerous volumes of her work, Benjamin 318 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: Banneker's almanac's, Paul Cuffey's journals, letters by Toussaint Louis Virtue, 319 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: playbills and posters from Ira, Frederick Aldridge's stage performances, and 320 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: an eighteen News three edition of Ignatius Sancho's letters. I 321 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: really feel like if there is a figure from black 322 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: history we know about today, he had their work in 323 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,360 Speaker 1: his collection. Sure seems like it. Yeah. So Schaumberg had 324 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: bought some of this work himself while traveling for his 325 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: work with the Freemasons or through book buyers located in 326 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: New York. Although he did make a few international trips 327 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 1: during his lifetime, it wasn't really something he could do 328 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: very often on his salary. So he also asked the 329 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: writers and activists he knew to keep an eye out 330 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 1: for particular fines when they were traveling internationally. This included 331 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: finding Spanish language work by and about black people in 332 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: Spain and in Spain's former colonial territory in the America's 333 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: As we mentioned early year, Schaumberg kept this private collection 334 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: not just for his own use, but as a resource 335 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: for others. His private library became both a research collection 336 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: and a gathering place during the Harlem Renaissance, and we're 337 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: going to get into that after we have a little 338 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: sponsor break. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and artistic 339 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: flourishing that was centered around Harlem, New York in the 340 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties and thirties. It's also known as the New 341 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: Negro Movement or the New Negro Renaissance, and in the 342 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: words of biographer Eleanor de Verney Sinnett, Schaumberg was the 343 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: document or of the movement, gathering the work of the 344 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: movements poets and novelists and musicians and visual artists and 345 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: others and adding them into his collection. And although Schaumberg 346 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,919 Speaker 1: himself was no longer living in Harlem, the library served 347 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: as a resource for the people who were creating all 348 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: of that work, people like Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Bennett 349 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: and Eric Walrend and Zora Neil Hurston, All consulted him 350 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: and his collection, and he did research work for writer 351 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: and poet Claude Mackay. Schaumberg also contributed an essay to 352 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: Alan Locke's anthology The New Negro and Interpretation, which is 353 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: considered one of the seminal texts of the Harlem Renaissance. 354 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: This essay was titled The Negro Digs Up His Past, 355 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: and it was first published in Survey Graphic magazine. This 356 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: is Schauenberg's most widely available and widely known piece of 357 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: writing today, and it became a foundational text for the 358 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: discipline of Black studies. It begins quote the American Negro 359 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: must remake his past in order to make his future, 360 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: before going on to say quote for him, a group 361 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: tradition must supply compensation for persecution and pride of race 362 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: the antidote for prejudice. History must restore what slavery took away, 363 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: for it is the soul damage of slavery that the 364 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 1: present generations must repair and offset. Schaumberg also outlined three 365 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: outstanding conclusions that had come from extensive study of black history. Quote. First, 366 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: that the Negro has been throughout the centuries of controversy 367 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: and active collaborator and often a pioneer in the struggle 368 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: for his own freedom and advancement. This is true to 369 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: a degree, which makes it the more surprising that it 370 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: has not been recognized earlier. Second that by virtue of 371 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: their being regarded as something exceptional, even by friends and 372 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 1: well wishers, negroes of attainment and genius have been unfairly 373 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:44,439 Speaker 1: disassociated from the group and group credit lost. Accordingly, Third, 374 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,880 Speaker 1: that the remote racial origins of the Negro, far from 375 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: being with the race in the world, have been given 376 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 1: to understand, offer a record of credible group achievement when 377 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 1: scientifically viewed, and more important still, that they are a 378 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: vital general interest because of their bearing upon the beginnings 379 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: and early development of human culture. The year after this 380 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,119 Speaker 1: essay was published, Schomberg sold his collection to the New 381 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,120 Speaker 1: York Public Library for ten thousand dollars. This was funded 382 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: by the Carnegie Corporation and brokered by the National Urban League. 383 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: At the time of this sale, Schamberg's collection was described 384 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: as a trans national archive of black culture, and it 385 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: contained books, poems, sheet music, photographs, newspapers, and other periodicals 386 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 1: written in multiple languages, especially English and Spanish. It totaled 387 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 1: roughly five thousand items, many of them quite rare. The 388 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: collection's first home was at the Fifth Street branch of 389 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: the New York Public Library in Harlem, and it was 390 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: known as the Arthur A. Schomberg Collection of Negro Literature 391 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: and Art. Schaumberg had started to go by the name 392 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: Arthur sometime after the end of his involvement with the 393 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican Independence movement, and over time he'd gone for 394 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: m Arthur Schomberg to A. A. Schamberg, before circling back 395 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: around to our Turo Towards the end of his life. 396 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: Schaumberg continued to acquire more items and donate them to 397 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,400 Speaker 1: the New York Public Library after the sale of the collection. 398 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,360 Speaker 1: He also worked with James Weldon Johnson and a women's 399 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: group known as the James Weldon Johnson Library Guild to 400 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: build out a collection of children's books written for and 401 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: about black children. But Schaumberg acknowledged that in many cases 402 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 1: these books just did not exist yet, and he saw 403 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: the role of children's librarians as including working toward getting 404 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,639 Speaker 1: books like that into prints. Chamberg used some of the 405 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: money from the sale of his collection to go to Europe, 406 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: and they're scoured European libraries, especially in Spain, to trace 407 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: the history of African people in Europe and the Caribbean. 408 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: This included visiting the Archivo de las Indias in Spain, 409 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: and he hoped to track down previously unknown black writers 410 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: and historical figure years in the Spanish speaking world. So 411 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: he poured through archives, making note of people described in 412 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: Spanish words that meant Moorish or black. He also made 413 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: a point to view the work of two black Spanish 414 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: painters in person, Wanda Pareja and Sebastian Gomez, both of 415 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: whom had been enslaved for most of their lives. On 416 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,639 Speaker 1: his return to the United States, he wrote a series 417 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: of essays about his research experiences in Spain. On January 418 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:31,360 Speaker 1: one of nineteen thirty, Schoenberg retired from the Bankers Trust Company. 419 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: He'd been experiencing headaches and nosebleeds, and that had contributed 420 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: to his decision to retire, but he didn't stop working. 421 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:44,439 Speaker 1: Charles S. Johnson, president of Fisk University in Tennessee, asked 422 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: him to help build Fisk's collection of Black history and literature. 423 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: Fisk is a historically black private university in Nashville, Tennessee. 424 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,719 Speaker 1: And Schaumberg was there for about a year from nineteen 425 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: thirty one to nineteen thirty two. Schauenberg's work at Fisk 426 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: was largely funded through the Carnegie Corporation and the Julius 427 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: Rosenwald Fund. In Fisk librarian Lewis Shuree noted that Schamberg 428 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: had added four thousand, five hundred twenty four of the 429 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: four thousand, six hundred thirty volumes to the Fisk collection. 430 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:23,400 Speaker 1: This had involved purchases of individual volumes and already established collections. Yes, 431 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: almost the entire initial collection at the Fisk Library was 432 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 1: through Schomberg's research and work. There have also been some 433 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: questions about his work during this period, though One was 434 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: about what was expected of him as the curator of 435 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: this collection. It seems like he hoped to travel and 436 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: personally acquire more books for the collection, but the university 437 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,679 Speaker 1: was more expecting him to be on site most of 438 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: the time. The other had to do with how he 439 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: was appraising books to potentially be added into this collection, 440 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: and this leader issue is a little complicated. Although Schaumberg 441 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: was not an appraiser, he had a lot of experience 442 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 1: in buying books. The biggest reason he had been able 443 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: to get that experience was that book dealers didn't see 444 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: books by black authors as valuable, so he was able 445 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: to afford to buy lots of rare works by black 446 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: writers on a pretty modest salary. When Schaumberg said that 447 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 1: a collection being sold as part of an estate wasn't 448 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,719 Speaker 1: worthy of the Fisk Library, the collector's widow accused him 449 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: of misrepresenting the collection's value. Regardless, Schauenberg played a huge 450 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: and important role of establishing the collection at Fisk. Sometime 451 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: around nineteen thirty, Schaumberg also started working on a cookbook, 452 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: which a favorite topic of the show. He didn't ever 453 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: finish or published this work, though, possibly because what he 454 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: conceived in his mind was really an enormous undertaking. According 455 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: to his notes, it would not just be recipes. It 456 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: would be an international history of black cookinging with biographies 457 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: of notable people and Black folk traditions related to food, 458 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: along with things like love charms and quote signs and 459 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: superstitions and cookery. That is an enormous scope for a book, 460 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: and then that was hampered by a lack of primary sources. 461 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: A lot of the cookbooks that were written and known 462 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: about at that point had been written by white people, 463 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: and the very few cookbooks by black people that were 464 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 1: known of we're really rare and very hard to find 465 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: copies of. There's also that problem with cookbooks, which is 466 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: that they get used don't tend to last the way 467 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: a book in a library would um. In nine two, 468 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,719 Speaker 1: Schaumberg traveled to Cuba, where he re established his connections 469 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: to Afro Cuban leaders and activists and rekindled his sense 470 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: of Latino identity. He also searched through archives for work 471 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: by Afro Cuban writers, and on his return he published 472 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: My Trip to Cuba in Quest for Negro Books. Also 473 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty two, Schamberg returned to the New York 474 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:07,440 Speaker 1: Public Library, and this drew some more controversy. W. E. B. 475 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: Du Bois launched a campaign against it, since Schaumberg's appointment 476 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: as curator for the collection that was named for him 477 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: was effectively going to demote Katherine Allen Latimer, who was 478 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: the New York Public Librariy's first black librarian. Du Boys 479 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: and his supporters so that this was not about Schamberg 480 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: as a person, but that it undermined an ongoing effort 481 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: to get more black people on staff at New York 482 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 1: public libraries, and then that circles back around to the 483 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: idea that although du Boys used and respected Schaumberg's collection, 484 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: he did not really see Schaumberg as authentically black. We've 485 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: been focused mainly on Schaumberg's acquisition of written texts, but 486 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: he also thought that visual art was critically important to 487 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: black history and the black experience. He curated shows by 488 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: black artists and or He tried to raise money to 489 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: buy a bust of Othello, which he believed to be 490 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: modeled on Ira Frederick Aldridge. This was a challenge the 491 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,800 Speaker 1: United States was just getting out of the Great Depression, 492 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: but ultimately attorney and civil rights activist Arthur spring Arm 493 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: donated enough money to bridge the gap in funds. The 494 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: statue was dedicated on January thirtieth, nineteen thirty six. This 495 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: led to an unfortunate dispute with Aldridge's daughter Amanda, though 496 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: she had written a biography of her father and had 497 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 1: asked Schoenberg to help get it published. And it really 498 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: seems like Schomberg was just overly optimistic about that project 499 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: and how quickly it might happen. Two years passed before 500 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 1: Amanda asked for the manuscript to be returned, and when 501 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: she did, she accused him of using it to suit 502 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: his own ends. This happened shortly before the end of 503 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: Schomberg's life. He died on June eighth, ninety eight. He 504 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: had become seriously ill after having an infected tooth extracted. 505 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: He was sixty four when he died. The Schaumberg collection 506 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: had faced difficulties with resources and funding even before Schaumberg's death, 507 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: and that continued afterward. By the nineteen sixties, some of 508 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: the materials and the collection were falling into disrepair, in 509 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: part because the library didn't have a climate controlled place 510 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: to store them. But today the Schoenberg Center is regarded 511 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: as one of the world's foremost research libraries focused specifically 512 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: on black culture. It's a library and a research and 513 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: cultural space in it was expanded to include exhibition galleries 514 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: and the Lynkston Hughes Auditorium in Tift. The library was 515 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, and 516 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: it was named a National Historic Landmark in ten. In 517 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: addition to historians and academics who use its collections for research, 518 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 1: it has also inspired poets, writers, playwrights, filmmaker and visual artists. 519 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: According to a paper by Howard Dodson, Denzel Washington used 520 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: the Center's film collection to study characters and prepare himself 521 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: for different roles. Yeah, and that paper says he would 522 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: basically disguise himself and go to the film collection. As 523 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: for Schomberg himself, he was included in biographical collections of 524 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: notable black figures from the nineteen teens through the nineteen thirties, 525 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: but after that point he mostly fell out of you 526 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: for decades. The first full length biography of him was 527 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: Arthur Alfonso Schomberg, Black Bibliophile and Collector, which came out 528 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:43,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty nine. Another book, Diasporic Blackness, The Life 529 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: and Times of Artiro Alfonso Schomberg, by Vanessa k Valdez, 530 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: came out in seventeen. He was also honored with a 531 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: postage stamp as part of the United States Postal Services 532 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 1: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance series, which just came out 533 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: in There has been a urge of academic work about 534 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 1: him very recently, though, in the journal Small Acts published 535 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: a special section that included multiple articles on Schaumberg the 536 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: spring summer one issue of the African American Review is 537 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: entirely dedicated to him, which Tracy fortunately discovered after she 538 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: chose the topic, but before she got into the research. 539 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: That doesn't always happen for us, No, there, it really doesn't. 540 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 1: There was a whole, a whole special issue that was 541 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: a hundred percent about a historical retrospective on the nineteen 542 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: eighteen flu that came out like right after we finished 543 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,399 Speaker 1: that episode. Uh So, a lot of the academic work 544 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,960 Speaker 1: on Schomberg has kind of wrestled with his identity, both 545 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,400 Speaker 1: as he saw himself and as other people saw him, 546 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 1: and sort of how to interpret it all. We talked 547 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 1: about how he was seen as something of an outsider 548 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 1: at the American Negro Academy and how his Latino heritage 549 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:02,839 Speaker 1: let at least some people to question his blackness. During 550 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,719 Speaker 1: his lifetime, critics also told him to go home to 551 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico, but kind of the converse of that is 552 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: also true. He also faced racism and colorism among Puerto 553 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:18,720 Speaker 1: Rican and Cuban activist communities because of his African ancestry 554 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: and his embrace of that ancestry. His use of language 555 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 1: was also criticized from every side. Editors often reworked his 556 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,799 Speaker 1: English language prose extensively. Alan Locke once wrote, quote, my 557 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: good loyal friend Schaumberg can gather facts, but he cannot write. 558 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: He was trained in Puerto Rico on florid Spanish, and 559 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: his English is impossible. And Spanish speakers criticized his Spanish, 560 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,240 Speaker 1: even accusing him of forgetting in. But in some cases 561 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 1: it wasn't that he had forgotten anything. It was that 562 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: he had learned to speak Spanish in Puerto Rico with 563 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: very little formal education, and then moved among communities in 564 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: the US that we're speaking a more hybridized Spanglish, although 565 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 1: the term Spanglish, we should be clear, had not been 566 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,120 Speaker 1: coined yet. The most recent scholarship on him has seemed 567 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: a lot less focused on trying to quantify our true 568 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: Alfonso Schaumberg and kind of an either or way or 569 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:17,279 Speaker 1: interpreting him as a bridge between the Puerto Rican and 570 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:21,239 Speaker 1: Black communities. Instead, there's a lot more recent writing that 571 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 1: notes all the ways that he was both black and 572 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican, and that really fits right in with his 573 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,760 Speaker 1: own quest to document the achievements of black people all 574 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: over the world and his remarks on how the history 575 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,359 Speaker 1: of the Caribbean and Latin America as we know it 576 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: today would be impossible without black people. I'm so glad. 577 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: I just stumbled across his name in a random article 578 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:45,720 Speaker 1: and it finally made me go, who is this person 579 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 1: who the library I have used so much is named after? 580 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,760 Speaker 1: I'm glad too. Um, do you have Glad listener mail? 581 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: I do I do have listener mail? This is from Nicole. Uh. 582 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 1: I am hoping I said that right because it is 583 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 1: a slightly unusual spelling, and Nichole says, Hi, Holly and Tracy. 584 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,719 Speaker 1: I just wrapped up the Operation paper Clip episodes and 585 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 1: had to email you about Fort Hunt Park, a national 586 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,120 Speaker 1: park a few miles from Mount Vernon. It's your typical 587 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 1: park with horses, trails, softball fields, pavilions and Spanish American 588 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 1: slash World War One era, a large gun battlements and 589 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,400 Speaker 1: a guard tower. There is also a lovely placard noting 590 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:29,400 Speaker 1: Operation paper Clip and the other top secret work that 591 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,759 Speaker 1: happened there during World War Two. It is certainly a 592 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: shock when you pull into the park and you see 593 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,880 Speaker 1: the old batteries that have been reinforced for people to 594 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: explore the outside. The interiors are closed to the public. 595 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: It's also where we held our wedding reception. Our ceremony 596 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:47,720 Speaker 1: was at the World War One Monument on the National Mall. 597 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,520 Speaker 1: It has always been a favorite spot before I met 598 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:52,920 Speaker 1: my now husband, and now we often take our daughter 599 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: there to explore and occasionally lose our keys. It is 600 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,400 Speaker 1: a striking reminder that history is all around us and 601 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: woven in to our d n a and continues to 602 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,600 Speaker 1: impact and shape us. I also wanted to mention that 603 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 1: you all read mail from my sister after the Bisbee deportation, 604 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: and I believe she is still ahead of me in 605 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: the race to keep up to date with your podcast. 606 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 1: She mentioned how our mother met Martin Luther King, and 607 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:18,319 Speaker 1: I wanted to mention that our mom went on to 608 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: serve in the Air Force as an intelligence officer during Vietnam. 609 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,719 Speaker 1: She now spends her time making well over five thousand 610 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: wounded warrior quilts, and I'm proud to say my sister 611 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: has the same skills and kind heart. I am not 612 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:36,319 Speaker 1: allowed nearest sewing machine. I've attached a few photos from 613 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:38,319 Speaker 1: Fort Hunt to get an idea of the scope of 614 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:40,960 Speaker 1: the park. Please excuse the photos of the kissing dorks 615 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,239 Speaker 1: they've made us for the awkward engagement photos, and it 616 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,960 Speaker 1: was a hundred and five degrees and I was ten 617 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: weeks pregnant and forty years old. Thank you for continuing 618 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: to share the good, bad and ugly of our world. 619 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,720 Speaker 1: Best Nicole, Thank you so much, Nicole for this email 620 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: and also for the pictures. I found them to be 621 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: charming charming, I agree, and I also I looked at 622 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:04,880 Speaker 1: one of them and I was like, there's a little 623 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,240 Speaker 1: twining vine hanging off one of those trees in the background. 624 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,799 Speaker 1: Is that ked zoo um? I don't know if it 625 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: was katzo were not. It's hard to identify plant way 626 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,160 Speaker 1: off in the distance from a from a picture. But anyway, 627 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 1: thank you so much for scinitis. I had honestly never 628 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:22,080 Speaker 1: heard of this park before, but it does look like 629 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:25,600 Speaker 1: a nice place to to wander and explore and you know, 630 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,720 Speaker 1: think about all the various ways that history has uh 631 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: has continued to influence us all, So thank you so 632 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: much for this email. If you would like to write 633 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast, for a 634 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:41,040 Speaker 1: history podcast at I heeart radio dot com and we're 635 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 1: all over social media at miss in History. That's where 636 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,239 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, in Instagram, and you 637 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,240 Speaker 1: can subscribe to our show on the I heart Radio 638 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 1: app and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Stuff you 639 00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:00,160 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 640 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:03,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 641 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,279 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 642 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows. H