Recommended by the Schomburg Center by Lisa Herndon, Communications and Publications Manager, Schomburg Center for Research in Black CultureApril 6, 2021

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's digital collections include manuscripts, maps, photographs, recorded conversations, digital exhibitions, and more.

At over 1,000 collections and 17,000 digitized items online, the largest number of materials reside in NYPL's Digital Collections. It spans the 1600s–2000s, covering the Art and Artifacts; Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference; Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books; and Photographs and Prints divisions. (Materials from the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division are only accessible at the Center.)

There are images of the work of artists Augusta Savage and Aaron Douglas, photographs of activists Ella Baker, Martin Luther King Jr., and other giants in Black history. Additional photos available to view feature music legends like Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington, iconic actors such as Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, plus historical views of Harlem. Materials span the African diaspora and include nations such as the Republic of Niger, Sudan, and Haiti. Researchers can also explore illustrations from historical texts like Harry Johnson’s Liberia, published in 1906, andThe New Negro: An Interpretation, published in 1925.

Our Livestream archive dates back to 2014 and contains over 300 recorded programs covering education, literature, history, healthcare, film, music, and theater. Watch talks with history makers such as poet Nikki Giovanni, musician George Clinton, hip hop lyricist Rakim, and Harlem fashion legend Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day. There are also thought-provoking conversations with Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors, educator Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, scholar Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Can't decide which collections or talks to explore first? Below, Schomburg Center curators, librarians, and staff share recommendations from their departments.