Posts by Alexsandra Mitchell

In this 1943 letter, civil rights icon Ella Baker sends a passionate plea for potential members for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) for a variety of planned initiatives on behalf of the organization. Makiba Foster, our Assistant Chief Librarian, reads the letter aloud.

In honor of National Poetry Month, and what would have been her 89th birthday, we celebrate the life and work of, Dr. Maya Angelou, with this Research Guide. Here, you will find an overview of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s holdings related to the work and life of this notable poet, writer, journalist, actress, and dancer.

In honor of International Women's Day, we honor former Schomburg Center Photographs and Prints Division curator, Dr. Deborah Willis. In this interview, Dr. Willis discusses the BLACK PORTRAITURE[S] III: Reinventions: Strains of Histories and Cultures conference, her photography work, and her pioneering work at The Schomburg Center.

In this letter to friends, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Julian Mayfield discusses his work on a play, world news in Ghana, and a discussion with Malcolm X.

New! This series of Schomburg Center Research Guides will provide you with resources related to various topics and subjects related to the Global Black Experience. This research guide will provide you with an overview of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s holdings related to Black dance pioneer, Katherine Dunham.

Oscar award winning rapper, and actor, Common, recites this heartfelt letter written by Nelson Mandela, to his sister-in-law, Niki Iris Xaba, about family, prison, and his love for then wife, Winnie Mandela.

Live from the Reading Room: Correspondence is a podcast series that aims to share interesting and engaging letters written by or to key historical figures from the African Diaspora.

New! This series of Schomburg Center Research Guides will provide you with resources related to various topics and subjects related to the Global Black Experience. This research guide will provide you with an overview of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s holdings related to Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

Robert G. O’Meally, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University recites this letter about faith composed by Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist, Langston Hughes, to Jamaican born Harlem preacher E. Ethelred Brown.

This episode of 'Live From the Reading Room: Correspondence', recited by Trinidadian costume historian Natalya Mills-Mayrena, features a letter from Trinidadian Poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor to a group of friends and poets. In the letter, Boyce-Taylor discusses writing, family, and publishing.

This podcast episode recited by Carole Boyce Davies features a lively letter between friends and colleagues: Claudia Jones and Eslanda Robeson.

Today’s episode features a letter from jazz singer, dancer, and nightclub owner Ada Smith, jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and "auto-archivist" Louis Armstrong.

Live from the Reading Room: Correspondence is a podcast series that aims to share interesting and engaging letters written by or to key historical figures from the African Diaspora.

Live from the Reading Room: Correspondence is a podcast series that aims to share interesting and engaging letters written by or to key historical figures from the African Diaspora.

Today’s episode features a letter from journalist and essayist Josephine Schuyler, to her daughter, pianist, composer, journalist, and child prodigy Philippa Duke Schuyler.

Today’s episode features a letter from writer, anthropologist, and folklorist, Zora Neale Hurston to her friend, “Bill.”

Today’s episode features a letter from Jamaican-American Harlem renaissance era poet and writer Claude McKay to NAACP leader and civil rights activist, Walter White.

Live from the Reading Room: Correspondence is a podcast series that aims to share interesting and engaging letters written by or to key historical figures from the African Diaspora.

Today’s episode features a note from Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larsen to an unidentified friend—“Eddie”—regarding a social gathering preceding the wedding of Yolande Du Bois and Countee Cullen.