Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture > Collections > Art and Artifacts Division

Collection Strengths

The Art and Artifacts Collection is one of the most comprehensive of its kind in a major public research institution. Especially strong are the holdings of African American painting and sculpture of the Harlem Renaissance, the WPA and the Black Arts Movement periods. There are also strong holdings of masks, statuary, instruments and utilitarian objects contained in the Blondiau Theater-Arts and the Harold and Florence Rome collections. These collections contain old and rare items from Ghana and Democratic Republic of the Congo. African weaponry and bronze adornment items from Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali, Morocco and Ivory Coast are contained in the Eric DeKolb and Arnold and Joanne Syrop collections respectively. The objects contained in the Melville and Frances Herskovits collection provide extensive ethnographic documentation from Surinam, South America and several West African regions. The materials in the Herskovits collection are supported by field notes and photographic archives in other divisions. In the category of artifacts, the Middleton A. "Spike" Harris collection represents one of the more important collections of anti-slavery medallions.

Within the category of works on paper the collection of anti-apartheid posters is an important primary source for documenting international sentiment for racial equality and human rights in southern Africa. The CEBA (Communications Excellence to Black Audiences) Collection is also one of the most significant holdings of contemporary visual resource materials portraying African Americans in national advertising campaigns since the late 1970s.