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Explore the latest digital-born projects from The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Generously supported by The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, this revival of DIGITAL SCHOMBURG provides increased access to our visual collections, in addition to our catalog of innovative legacy projects.

With new projects added regularly, sign up for the Center’s newsletter to stay connected!

NUEVAYORKINOS x DIGITAL SCHOMBURG PRESENTS

Where Roses Grow:

A LOOK AT RÓMULO LACHATAÑERÉ'S HARLEM

Minute-Histories, Digital Projects + More

Minute-long videos and digital exhibitions highlight the visual histories of a variety of digitized artworks and photographs held at the Schomburg Center. View more of the center’s past digital exhibitions here.

Collage of digitized archival photographs of vaudeville performer Aida Overton Walker by Digital Schomburg.
Collaged photographs taken during the Farm Security Administration of 1935 - 1942, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

A Fond Farewell to Summer…

Featuring digitized photographs from the Farm Security Administration, 1935 - 1942

Collaged photographs taken during the Farm Security Administration of 1935 - 1942, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
1930–1950, double exposure photograph of an American Negro League Baseball player throwing a baseball - FLY BALL - COPYRIGHT MORGAN and MARVIN SMITH

FLY BALL: Vintage Snapshots of Black Athletes by Twin Brother Photographers, Morgan & Marvin Smith

NEW! Interactive Teacher Set Honoring Augusta Savage

Photograph by Jonathan Blanc, featuring books and 3D-printed sculptures by renowned sculptor Augusta Savage in a newly developed interactive teacher set available through MyLibraryNYC.

Photo credit: Jonathan Blanc

"When other people have something they don’t know what to do with, they throw it away, but not me. I’m going to make something out of it. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been that way. I would take nothing and make something." 

-Nellie Mae Rowe 

Title image for digital exhibition, "Nellie Mae Rowe: Something From Nothing." Recently digitized, this selection of mixed media works on paper is a glimpse into the imaginative world of Nellie Mae Rowe.
Title image for digital exhibition "Watercolors Amongst Friends," featuring a watercolor portrait of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg by artist and illustrator Albert Alexander Smith.

View recently digitized acquisition letters and watercolor portraits, among the last items Arturo Schomburg personally commissioned and acquired for the Library’s collection. 

ROLE(3D)MODELS

Explore an ongoing series of rotating virtual 3D models, rendered from sculptures and artifacts preserved in our Art & Artifacts Division. Note that slight variations between these scanned models and the original artworks and artifacts may exist. While nothing replaces the power of presence and experiencing these materials in person, use of this technology provides a new perspective for understanding the past through an object’s history.

In 2025, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will celebrate 100 years as a world-leading cultural institution devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences.

Click the icons to learn more about the center’s archival collections, preserved across five research divisions categorized by format.

Photograph of poet Langston Hughes and librarian Jean Blackwell Hutson, representing the Schomburg Center's Jean Blackwell Hutson Research & Reference Division.

JEAN BLACKWELL HUTSON RESEARCH & REFERENCE

Gamin by sculptor Augusta Savage, found in the Schomburg Center's Art & Artifacts Division.

ART & ARTIFACTS

Photograph of Austin Hansen and his vintage camera from the Schomburg Center's Photographs and Prints Division.

PHOTOGRAPHS & PRINTS

A vinyl record from the Schomburg Center's Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

MOVING IMAGE & RECORDED SOUND

Archival boxes and books from the Schomburg Center's Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division.

MANUSCRIPTS, ARCHIVES & RARE BOOKS