Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was a historian, curator, researcher, archivist, and activist who played a prominent role in sharing history for African-Americans and illuminating our understanding of what we know as the African Diaspora.

In 1891, Schomburg, 17, moved to New York, became a catalyst for the Harlem Renaissance, and participated in liberation campaigns for Puerto Rico and Cuba. He co-founded the Negro Society for Historical Research, which united African, Caribbean, and African-American scholars to protect Pan-African scholarly work and to "instruct the race and to inspire love and veneration for its men and women of mark". Soon, he served as President of the American Negro Academy, which focuses on black history, culture, and literature. Throughout his life, he traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America to collect materials on Africa and the African Diaspora. 

Schomburg sold a $10,000 collection of over 10,000 books, manuscripts, artwork and other archived materials to what is now known as the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature, History and Prints with over 11 million archives.