Rafia Zafar, professor of English, African and African-American studies and American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has co-edited a special issue of the African American Review dedicated to pioneering writer, historian and activist Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938).
Born in Puerto Rico to parents of African and German descent, Schomburg was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance and a leading advocate for Puerto Rican and Cuban independence from Spain. His extensive personal collection of books, manuscripts, artworks, slave narratives and other materials were purchased by the New York Public Library in 1926 and became the basis for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, one of the world’s premier archives dedicated to African American, African Diaspora and African experiences.
Published quarterly by Johns Hopkins University Press, the African American Review is the official publication of the Modern Language Association’s African American forum. The special Schomburg issue features more than a dozen essays by scholars, librarians and archivists from across the arts, humanities and social sciences. Zafar co-edited this issue with Laura E. Helton, assistant professor of English and history at the University of Delaware. For more information, visit press.jhu.edu.
