Schomburg

Written by Carole Boston Weatherford · Illustrated by Eric Velasquez

A law clerk's quest to preserve African heritage reshapes history.

4.1 Goodreads · 1,487 ratings

44 pages· 4,511 words· Est. 35 min read-aloud· 1100L

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Bookroo's summary

Arturo Schomburg, an Afro–Puerto Rican law clerk, embarks on a mission to uncover and celebrate the achievements of people of African descent. As his collection of books, letters, and art grows, it threatens to overtake his home. Faced with this challenge, he partners with the New York Public Library, creating a cornerstone collection that evolves into the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Discover how one man's passion becomes a global beacon for scholars, reshaping the narrative of history and culture.

From the publisher

In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history. Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked. Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.