This blog post is part of the #SchomburgSyllabus series edited by Zakiya Collier, Digital Archivist, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division. The #SchomburgSyllabus project archives Black-authored and Black-related online educational resources to document Black studies, movements, and experiences in the twenty-first century. In connecting these web-archived resources to the Schomburg Center’s own unique materials, the project honors and recognizes the source and strength of Black self-education practices, collective study, and librarianship.The #SchomburgSyllabus is curated by Schomburg Center staff and organized into twenty-seven themes to foster a greater understanding of the Black experience.

Many items found in the Schomburg Center’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Books Division embrace the #SchomburgSyllabus themes of Black self-education practices, collective study, and librarianship. One such item is a handmade book titled, "Proudly We Hail: Selected Biographies" from the Miscellaneous American Letters and Papers collection. The students in class 9-204 of Frederick Douglass Junior High School, P.S 139—an all-boys school of predominantly Black students— authored and illustrated the book, which features selected biographies and illustrations of notable Black people in the fields of the arts and letters, business, education, military, political, biological,and physical sciences, and other subjects. At over 200 pages, the book includes a title page, acknowledgements, a brief biography of Mr. Harcourt A. Tynes, a table of contents, biographical entries and illustrations, a bibliography, and addenda of personal messages from students of class 9-204 along with accompanying photographs of each student. The students dedicated the book to their Social Science teacher, Mr. Harcourt A. Tynes, and presented it to him on February 8, 1958, while he was ill and in the hospital at the time. 

A few pages after the cover page of the book, the students offer these words:

The members of class 9-204 wish to show their respect to Mr. Harcourt Tynes, a most distinguished educator. This book can little compensate for the loss of him in our education. We hope this work pleases him as much as it pleased us to write it. With both humility and pride we proffer this book on several outstanding Negroes.

Mr. Tynes assigned this project to the students in December 1957 and in order to complete this assignment students worked with other faculty at their school, such as their school librarian, Miss Mary Carrion, their art teacher, Mr. Andrew Donaldson, who took photos of the students to include in the book, and Mr. J. Friedman who completed the binding for the book.  As Frederick Douglass Junior High School, PS 139, was located at 120 W. 140th Street (between 139th and 140th), which is just a few blocks from the Countee Cullen and the 135th Street branch libraries, Class 9-204 members also made numerous trips to the library to conduct research and compile biographical information on the historic figures featured in this work. As one student noted in a personal message to Mr. Tynes:

Dear Mr. Tynes, I am sorry of the illness that has overtaken you, and I hope you will recover very soon. You are one of the best social studies teachers that I have worked with sincerely. During my school years, I have never been a very good student and I never went to the library that many times for any teacher, but in your class I didn’t mind working with you because I have heard so many things about you in your past years. Your student, George Thompson 

The Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints—the forerunner to today’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture—opened in 1925 as a special collection of the 135th Street Branch of The New York Public Library to meet the needs of a changing community. The Division first won international acclaim in 1926, when the personal collection of the distinguished Puerto Rican-born Black scholar and bibliophile, Arturo (Arthur) Alfonso Schomburg, was purchased by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation and added to the existing collection. Schomburg’s collection included more than 10,000 books, pamphlets, manuscripts, etchings, and artwork that document the African diaspora. During the late 1950s, when this assignment was given, students would have found an immense amount of information on Black history and culture in the Schomburg Collection at the 135th Street Branch Library. Class 9-204 expressed appreciation to NYPL librarians Mrs. Dorothy Homer and Mrs. Eleanor Jackson of the Countee Cullen Public Library and Miss Jean Blackwell and assistants of the Schomburg Collection for their help. 

One of the most moving aspects of this handmade book is the addenda at the end. Each student from class 9-204  included their photos alongside a handwritten, personalized "get well soon" message to their favorite Social Studies teacher. Mr. Tynes and this assignment meant so much to the students that they were afforded the opportunity to discuss it on a few local radio stations. Sadly, Mr. Tynes passed away on May 28, 1958, a few months after the book was presented to him.¹ 

According to the students’ brief biography of Mr. Tynes, he was born in Nassau, Bahamas and came to New York to attend City College. He also obtained a master’s degree in History and Social Science from Columbia University. After graduating in 1924, he taught for a year as a lecturer in Negro History at Tillotson College in Texas. He returned to New York City and began teaching Social Studies at Frederick Douglass Junior High School in 1926. Mr. Tynes was active in several civic organizations such as the New York Branch of the NAACP, the Westchester Urban League, and the Westchester County Council of the State Commission Against Discrimination. He was also a member of the Social Studies Curriculum Committee of the Board of Education and its Textbook Appraisal Committee. 

At the time of his passing, Mr. Tynes also served as president of the New York Branch of the Association of Negro Life and History, predecessor to the present-day organization called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), for 18 years. Founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1915, ASALH is an organization dedicated to the study of Black history and culture. Its official mission is "to promote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, history, and culture to the global community."²  In alignment with Schomburg’s early collecting efforts, Woodson’s ASALH would also help to ensure that the history of African people would no longer be omitted from the world’s historical record. Mr. Tynes’s teaching philosophy embodied the mission of the organization and emphasized the rich heritage of people of African descent.  

"Proudly We Hail" stands as a beautiful tribute to a wonderful teacher and a vibrant learning environment in the Harlem community. It also illustrates the critical role of libraries and archives such as the Schomburg Center in collecting and preserving rare and unique primary source materials that document the history and culture of people of African descent throughout the world for long-term access. This book demonstrates the impact of having a great teacher in a student’s life and how important it was (and is) for students, especially Black students, to learn about Black history and culture. In a message to Mr. Tynes from student William Davis, he writes:

Dear Mr. Tynes, I would like to thank you very much for the work that you have taught me and I think it was a great honor to work for such a great scholar. I truly and dearly believe that you were one of the greatest social studies teachers I’ve ever had. I hope you will continue on the road to good health and I sincerely wish you good luck. Yours truly, William Davis

There is a power and affirmation in representation and seeing yourself in the archival record and this project certainly served as a source of pride and joy for these students. On behalf of the Schomburg Center and the #SchomburgSyllabus, we also celebrate the life and legacy of and express gratitude to Mr. Tynes, for being an amazing educator who inspired young minds and helped students learn more about themselves through an exploration of Black history and culture.

¹ “Harcourt A. Tynes.” The Journal of Negro History 43, no. 4 (1958): 333–35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716154.
²  Association for the Study of African American Life and History. https://asalh.org/ (accessed September 14, 2021).