Arturo Schomburg: Family, Loss, and Death in New York

• Madelyn Degnars, English, University of Delaware

• Laura Helton, English & History, University of Delaware

Arturo A. Schomburg remains, arguably, the Harlem Renaissance’s foremost collector. Born in Puerto Rico, Schomburg moved to New York in 1891. Here, he amassed one of the most significant libraries of books and materials related to the history and accomplishments of African and African descended peoples. Schomburg’s collection of over 4,000 books was purchased by the New York Public Library for a collection that would later be named the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Though Schomburg is largely remembered as a bibliophile and historian of the twentieth century, this presentation explores his early years in the United States from 1891-1897. Biographers of Schomburg have largely focused on his political activism during this period, but I aim to explore his personal story, including his family and the losses he suffered. Though relatively little is known about Schomburg’s life during the 1890s, new information can be gleaned by uncovering the burial records of his family members. During this period, Schomburg buried his mother, Maria Josef (1895), and son, Maximo (1897) at St. Michael’s Episcopal Cemetery in Queens, New York. Both mother and son were interred in an unmarked grave alongside an unrelated woman. St. Michael’s itself, from its inception, sought to provide dignified burials for New York’s expanding working poor population. During this period of massive expansion for New York, the broader United States, and Schomburg’s intellectual pursuits, the funeral industry strived to establish itself as a profession. In doing so, they would also redefine the very concept of a dignified death. My research considers why Schomburg chose St. Michael’s Cemetery as his family’s resting place, and what this choice may imply about memorialization practices in the African diaspora, and the history of the funeral industry.