Arturo Schomburg: Collector of the African Past

History must restore what slavery took away

Arthuro Schomburg “The Negro Digs up His Past”

     Arturo Schomburg’s contribution to the preservation of the African diaspora experience is one that demonstrates how perseverance can make possible, what could appear impossible at first sight.  Schomburg’s life-long goal of collecting resources about the African experience gave the New York Library System one of the most important African experience collection of the world. 

     It was his quest to demonstrate that blacks did have a past and one to be proud of that caused Schomburg to travel to many places as well as to make contact with people that helped him create a great collection that proved how important is Africa’s contribution within the world historical events beyond just slavery.

     Schomburg was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1874, a year after the abolition of poetry in this island.  His mother was from St. Croix.

      It is said that Schomburg’s vocation to restoring the African past came when he was a child in elementary school.  There he was told that blacks had no past and Schomburg decided to prove this wrong.

     As a young man he moved to New York.  He first actively participated of organizations that promoted the independence of the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico.  He later became a member of the Prince Hall Masons and the rest of his life was mainly dedicated to collecting documents of the African and its diaspora experience.  He also actively participated with his quest through his writing.  He wrote numerous articles about the blacks’ contributions to shed a new light to the history of blacks that had been silenced throughout centuries. He also wanted the Afro-descendants to support each other and be proud of their historical past.

 

     It was amazing to see how an autodidact person as Schomburg demonstrated his valuable knowledge that even established historians of the time were ignorant about or wished it to be erased from the collective memory.

     Schomburg’s efforts throughout the years brought one of the greatest collections of black history of all times.  By the time The New York Library purchased this valuable collection for $10, 000; it contained documents that are of great importance within the history of Africans and their descendants throughout the world.  

     Schomburg had accomplished what would have taken many people and more than a lifetime to obtain and he did so day by day  to provide blacks with their historical past and guide them to a future of pride and self- identity.

     His collection has continued growing.  When Flor Pinero de Rivera published her book, she mentioned that this collection had over 100,000 books including rare volumes such as that of the poetry of Juan Latino which was published in 1573.  It also had at that time more than 150,000 photographs.  It has recordings of audio and music including those of Booker T. Washington (1900) and George Washington Carver (1939).  It had  microfilms of more than 400 newspapers.  The Schomburg Center that began with Arturo Schomburg’s personal collection is having the African past alive in front of the eyes of those who visit the this library.

     Arturo Schomburg’s contribution must not be forgotten.  This outstanding man demonstrated how important has been African and its diaspora’s contribution in the development of the world history.  He gave voice to those who had been silenced throughout the centuries.  They now speak to all those interested in remembering the past that had been hidden by the shadow of slavery.

Bibliography

Hoffnung-Garskof. (2008). The Migrations of Arturo Schomburg: On Being Antillano, Negro, and Puerto Rican in New York 1891-1938. Journal of American Ethnic History, 3-49.

Holton, A. (n.d.). Decolonizing History: Arthur Schomburg's Afrodiasporic Archive. The Journal of African American History, 218-238.

Pinero de Rivera, F. (2008). Arturo Schomburg: Sus Escritos Anotados y Apendices. San Juan: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe.

Better World Books and their Contribution to Literacy Around the World

    

Since I began my graduate studies, buying books have become a natural part of my life.  Every two weeks or so, I am in Amazon, looking for books available for my courses and adding more titles to my Caribbean children’s book collection which thanks to Anansesem’s bookstore, I now do not have to go on guessing and crossing my fingers when using Amazon’s search engine.  While buying children’s books for my Caribbean collection, I noticed suddenly that most of my used books were from Better World Books.  And in one of their deliveries, I received a bookmark that briefly explained their mission.  More than a business of selling books, this company seeks also to fund literacy programs as well as rescuing books that would end up as landfill and be lost for readers like me.

     Better World Books have shown that to be a successful business, it doesn’t mean only to think about the profits made by investors.  It also means social compromise.  Many of the books obtained are from donations made by libraries as they must make space for new books.  The company in turn, returns part of the profit made from their donations to help these libraries to continue with their mission of providing books and literacy activities in their communities.  For every book bought, this company donates a bookto projects like Books for Africa and Feed the Children.

     Better World Books reminds us how valuable books are.  Nowadays in our digital world, where some people might find that the books they own are taking too much space and opt for discarding them, this company shows us that donating books is important.  It extends the life of a book where more people enjoy the treasures found in reading.  It also gives the opportunity for those not as fortunate as many of us, to have books for their enjoyment.

     So next time you decide to purchase a book in Amazon, especially a used one,  look and see if Better World Books has the book available for sell.  That way as you enjoy a book, another person around the world is also enjoying the magic of reading while the company also looks for new ways to bring literacy in every person’s home.

Visit Better World Books at  http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

Twitter: @BWBooks

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/betterworldbooks

Hunter College Youtube Channel- Pura Belpre

Hunter College has a Youtube channel with interesting documentaries and videos.  Visiting the channel, the first video I discovered was of Pura Belpre.  Here is the video which is an excellent resource for educators and Teacher Candidates.

Video Conferences sponsored by UPR and Hunter College (CUNY)

The UPRH Library is part of the institutions that are sponsoring a series of video conferences that will be held during the months of March, April and May.  The topics presented are focused in the Puerto Rican diaspora and are free of cost.

Visit the link for more information at http://biblioteca.uprh.edu/doc/Video%20Conferences%20Centro-UPR.pdf.

Luis Pales Matos' Literary Contribution

Luis Pales Matos literary contribution is of great importance in the the literature of Puerto Rico.  A visual presentation of Luis Pales Matos was created some years ago in our institution that we want to share with you.

Prof. Jean Steeves-Franco and Tom-Toms and Kinky Hair of All Things Black

Prof. Jean Steeves-Franco

The Library Committee had the opportunity to interview Prof. Jean Steeves-Franco who recently translated Luis Palés- Matos poetry. Her work appears in Tom-Toms and Kinky Hair of all Things Black published by the University of Puerto Rico. Here is what Prof. Jean Franco shared with the readers of “The Owl’s Bookshelf” 

1)    When did you decide to translate Palés- Matos poetry?  Why did you choose this poet? 
 This  is probably the question I am most frequently asked. While I was studying for my B.A. in Spanish Studies, I wondered why no one had ever translated Palés Matos’s Tuntún de pasa y grifería into English. I was told it was impossible, so that became an exciting challenge for me because I didn’t think so. Also, it was Octavio Paz who said that if you are going to translate poetry, you have to love the “poet”, or in other words, the text. And I did. Every word fascinated me. I had never read anything quite like it.

  

2)    How challenging was it for you to translate Palés- Matos poetry while expressing in another language his poetic style and essence of his poems?

It is always difficult to translate from one language to another. The response in another language is an endless process of linguistic decision-making. But believing something can be done is half the battle. Loving the text is the other half. I agree with Ortega y Gasset who claims there are two kinds of translations: one that sounds as if it were originally written in the language into which it is being translated, and the other, which Ortega agrees with, is one that gives you the experience of the language from which the translation is made. I have tried my best to translate Palés Matos in the Orteguian perspective. (I have written more concerning theory and my translation in the Translator’s Note of my book.)

  

3)    How did your other colleagues react when you expressed your interest in undertaking this project?

 My colleagues still thought it was an exercise in futility, that it was impossible and could not be done. But that didn’t deter me. I already had decided to begin my project. 

4)    Which ones of Palés Matos poems was more challenging for you to translate?  Why so?

It is impossible to pick out a particular poem that was the most difficult to translate. All of them had their own peculiarity and challenge, especially Nañigo goes to heaven. In answer to Robert Frost’s famous phrase, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation,” Octavio Paz answers. “If something is lost, something is also recovered.” He believes it’s the poetry that is transformed because the text is made up of signs, written or oral, and they produce meanings. He explains that in poetry one cannot separate the sign from the meaning. Because one has to produce the physical properties of the signs, poetry seems impossible to translate. He continues that it is here where translation as an art begins: since the same signs of the original cannot be used, one must find equivalents in the other language, so one can produce similar results and effects. And the final version provides a new context in English which had not existed before, and if it is good, the reader will believe in the authenticity of a voice even if it’s a little different. This has been my faithful guideline.

  

5)    What was your favorite poem of Palés-Matos?  Why?

This is really difficult to pinpoint, because every poem in each section has its own beauty, innovative content, and the use of the Spanish and African languages in new patterns, sounds, and rhythms. I have favorites in each section but the list is long. I’m afraid I am unable to limit my answer to one favorite poem!

  

6)    What is your importance of having Palés- Matos work available in English?

I believe Tuntún had to be translated into English so readers outside of Puerto Rico, (and in Puerto Rico), and the Caribbean, can now get to know Puerto Rico’s foremost poet and his work better. A bilingual edition is a wonderful educational tool for students in the public schools and the University of Puerto Rico, and for those who do not know enough Spanish to enjoy his poetry, and also for those who speak English but only have basic Spanish skills. A bilingual edition is also extremely beneficial to the many Puerto Rican students who live in the United States and don’t know much Spanish, who want to know more about their literary heritage and roots.

 There is also the aspect of translation itself. Such a difficult work that has been translated would advance the discussions on the task of a translator, on theory, and studies, that are so important to the book industry today, since we are able to read so many authors in different languages, and now others will have the opportunity to read Palés in English.

Tom-Toms and Kinky Hair of all Things Black is available in UPRH Library in Colección Puertorriqueña.

Prof. Jean Francio Biography:

Jean Steeves-Franco has been an English professor at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey, Rio Piedras, and Carolina, where she has taught British and American Literature and Composition for many years. She has a B.A. in Spanish Studies (with a major in Nineteenth Century Spanish Literature), a Master's degree in English Literature (specializing in both Eighteenth Century British Literature and Nineteenth Century American Literature), and a Juris Doctor, all earned at the UPR. For the past thirty years she has translated numerous texts from the Spanish into English. Her most recent contribution is a translation into English of Pales Matos's Tuntun de Pasa y Griferia which was published in a bilingual edition by the University of Puerto Rico.

      She has also translated texts for Norma Pub. and has been a contributing writer of several school texts for Grupo Santillana including original stories and poems. Her contributions to the academic world includes research papers and conferences in different academic institutions on the island. One of her published studies, "Gender and Archetypal Representation: A Case of Intertextual Influence of Palacio Valdes's "Marta y Maria" on William Dean Howells's "The Rise of Silas Latham" can be found in the Actas del Simposia Homenaje a las hermanas Mercedes y Luce Lopez Baralt (UPR Arecibo, 2000). Prof. Franco is currently working on several translation projects in literature and education.