In 1874, Arthur Alfonso Schomburg was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a Black mother and a white father who soon vanished from his life.
As a child, he carried a burning question: “Where can I read about Black history?” His teacher’s reply cut deeply: “Such books don’t exist.”
Those words could have broken him. Instead, they fueled his determination.
At just 17, Schomburg sailed to New York and began a lifelong mission: uncovering, collecting, and preserving the stories the world tried to erase. From rare manuscripts to revolutionary writings, he pieced together a vast record of Black achievement, earning the nickname “The Sherlock Holmes of Negro History.”
By the time he passed away in 1938, his collection included tens of thousands of works — proof that Black history was not only real but rich, brilliant, and essential.
Today, his legacy lives on at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, home to nearly five million items and still growing.
Arthur Schomburg’s life reminds us: when someone tells you your story doesn’t exist, you have the power to make it unforgettable.
