This year, when patrons visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the 135th Street New York Public Library, they will have a taste of what it felt like to walk in a century ago. In 1925, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, the doors opened onto what was then the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints. The exhibition “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity” celebrates what transpired in the following decades.

On view through June 2026, the show features manuscript pages from Maya Angelou, writings by Malcolm X, photography by Gordon Parks, murals by Aaron Douglas, and the original 1925 visitor book—signed by one of the library’s fiercest advocates, Langston Hughes. “The Schomburg Center is a place where Black history is accessed, documented, and made,” says director and “100” curator Joy Bivins. “This has been the case since the collection first opened to the public, and we continue to work to ensure this will be the case … The world changes, and with it, the way we express ideas.”​

Aaron Douglas shows Arturo Alfonso Schomburg an artwork. All images courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
This year, when patrons visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the 135th Street New York Public Library, they will have a taste of what it felt like to walk in a century ago. In 1925, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, the doors opened onto what was then the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints. The exhibition “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity” celebrates what transpired in the following decades.

On view through June 2026, the show features manuscript pages from Maya Angelou, writings by Malcolm X, photography by Gordon Parks, murals by Aaron Douglas, and the original 1925 visitor book—signed by one of the library’s fiercest advocates, Langston Hughes. “The Schomburg Center is a place where Black history is accessed, documented, and made,” says director and “100” curator Joy Bivins. “This has been the case since the collection first opened to the public, and we continue to work to ensure this will be the case … The world changes, and with it, the way we express ideas.”

Visitors in the Schomburg Center reading room.
Amidst our frenetic present, every facet of the anniversary exhibition sheds light on often-overlooked cultural gems of the past. Programming surrounding the exhibition includes, for example, dinners prepared using recipes from the unpublished cookbook of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the Puerto Rican–born Black scholar and bibliophile whose collection serves as the foundation of the center’s archives.

“I am always drawn to the fact that Schomburg collected broadly—his collections encompassed his understanding that Black history was global history,” says Bivins. “We hope that patrons will think of their own place in ongoing Black history as they experience this special moment and reflect on those who came before them.”

Come for the historical treasures, stay for the limited-edition Schomburg Centennial library card featuring the center’s cosmogram, Rivers, by artist Houston Conwill. A century from now, the laminated token of New York life may find its own place in the archives.

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Amidst our frenetic present, every facet of the anniversary exhibition sheds light on often-overlooked cultural gems of the past. Programming surrounding the exhibition includes, for example, dinners prepared using recipes from the unpublished cookbook of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the Puerto Rican–born Black scholar and bibliophile whose collection serves as the foundation of the center’s archives.

“I am always drawn to the fact that Schomburg collected broadly—his collections encompassed his understanding that Black history was global history,” says Bivins. “We hope that patrons will think of their own place in ongoing Black history as they experience this special moment and reflect on those who came before them.”

Come for the historical treasures, stay for the limited-edition Schomburg Centennial library card featuring the center’s cosmogram, Rivers, by artist Houston Conwill. A century from now, the laminated token of New York life may find its own place in the archives.

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