Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture
Illustration by AFineLyne
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research unit of The New York Public Library and devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. For Jacob Lawrence, the branch of the New York Public Library at the time, “it was a place for community engagement…educational empowerment, for literacy, for people to have a safe haven and a sanctuary to try to figure out where they fit in the world,” says the director of the Schomburg Center. Lawrence spent time here taking classes and participating in lecture, and attributes his interest in Black history from his community and after-school sessions at the library.
