John Edward Bruce (1856-1924), a former slave, was a
noted bibliophile, historian, and journalist. In 1911, he co-founded the Negro
Society for Historical Research with his friend and colleague Arthur Schomburg.
Mr. Bruce attended Howard University, was a member of the Republican National
Committee’s Literary Bureau, the Men’s Sunday Club, the Bethel Literary and Historical Association, the American Negro Academy, and once worked for The New York Times. In addition, he was
a member of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and
founded newspapers such as The Argus
Weekly (Washington, D.C.), The Sunday
Item (Norfolk, Va.), The Republican
(Norfolk, Va.), The Grit (Washington,
D.C.), and The Weekly Standard (Yonkers, N.Y.). He was known in the literary
world as “Bruce Grit” and wrote for such papers as The African Times and Orient
Review, The Negro World, The Albany Argus, and The Buffalo Express. John Edward Bruce
passed away in 1924 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers, New
York.
See related posts: Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, 1874-1938: Noted Bibliophile, Collector, Curator, and Scholar and The Bethel Literary and Historical Association.
Sources: Crowder, Ralph L. John Edward Bruce: Politician, Journalist, and Self-Trained Historian of the African Diaspora. New York: New York UP, 2004. Print. ; Seraile, William. Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 2003. Print. ; Sinnette, Elinor D. V. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, Black Bibliophile & Collector: A Biography. New York : New York Public Library, 1989. 28-30, 36-37, 61, 73-74, 206. Print. ; Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History. Ed. Elinor D. V. Sinnette, W. Paul Coates, and Thomas C. Battle. Washington, D.C.: Howard UP, 1990. 10, 33-34, 38-39, 42, 47, 52, 69. Print. ; Anderson, Sarah A. "'The Place to Go': The 135th Street Branch Library and the Harlem Renaissance." Library Quarterly 73.4 (2003): 414. Print.
Henry Proctor Slaughter (1871-1958), a native of Louisville, Kentucky and a graduate of Howard University, was a collector of materials on African American history. Mr. Slaughter was a friend and colleague of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, another well-known collector of African American history materials. He and Schomburg were the editors of the Odd Fellows Journal. Mr. Slaughter also once served as editor for the Lexington Standard. In addition, Mr. Slaughter worked for the United States Government Printing Office where he served as compositor from 1896 until 1937. Henry Proctor Slaughter passed away in 1958. Slaughter's collection is housed at Clark-Atlanta University's Woodruff Library. The collection was acquired by the university in 1946.
See related posts: Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, 1874-1938: Noted Bibliophile, Collector, Curator, and Scholar ; William Henry Smith: Librarian for the U.S. House of Representatives, 1881-1891 ; and John F.N. Wilkinson and the Law Library of Congress.
Sources: Jordan, Casper Leroy. "African American Forerunners in Librarianship." Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 21. Print. ; Sinnette, Elinor D. V. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, Black Bibliophile & Collector: A Biography. New York: New York Public Library, 1989. 3, 63, 67-68, 73-74, 80-82, 94, 154, 184, 190, 192, 214. Print. ; Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History. Ed. Elinor D. V. Sinnette, W. Paul Coates, and Thomas C. Battle. Washington, D.C.: Howard UP, 1990. 8, 10-12, 84-87, 209. Print. ; Garner, Carla W. "Slaughter, Henry Proctor (1871-1957)." BlackPast.org. BlackPast.org, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. ; Owens, Irene. "Stories Told But Unfinished: Challenges Facing African American Libraries and Special Collections in Historically Black Colleges and Universities." Diversity Now: People, Collections, and Services in Academic Libraries. Ed. Teresa Y.Neely and Kuang-Hwei (Janet) Lee-Smeltzer. Binghamton: Haworth Information P, 2011. 167. Print. ; "Slaughter, Henry Proctor." Encyclopedia of Louisville. Ed. John E. Kleber. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 2001. 824-825. Print. ; Britton, Helen H. "Dorothy Porter Wesley: Bibliographer, Curator, and Scholar." Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing the Women In. Ed. Suzanne Hildenbrand. Norwood: Ablex, 1996. 173. Print. ; Jefferson, Julius C. “The Black Male Librarian: An Endangered Species.” The National Diversity in Libraries Conference. Louisville Marriott Downtown, Louisville, KY. 3 Oct. 2008. Pdf.
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Arthur Alfonso Schomburg (also known as Arturo Alfonso Schomburg), a native of Puerto Rico, was a noted bibliophile and scholar of African and African American history. Mr. Schomburg devoted his life, time, and energy in acquiring and archiving materials relating to the history and culture of people of African descent. In 1926, Mr. Schomburg sold his collection to the New York Public Library. Mr. Schomburg served as curator of the collection, which the New York Public Library housed at its 135th Street Branch. Schomburg also worked at Fisk University where he was instrumental in building the library's Negro history collection. Mr. Schomburg was a member of the Prince Hall Mason Lodge and the Negro Society for Historical Research. In addition, he was the president of the American Negro Academy, a co-founder of the Negro Book Collectors Exchange, and chairman of the Negro Library Association's research committee. Mr. Schomburg passed away in 1938. Schomburg's collection is still housed at the 135th Street Branch, which is now known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
See related posts: John Edward Bruce: Ex-Slave, Bibliophile, Historian, and Journalist ; Henry Proctor Slaughter: Compositor for the U.S. Government Printing Office, Bibliophile, Collector, and Newspaer Editor ; The Mayme A. Clayton Library Museum and Cultural Center (MCL) ; and The E. Azalia Hackley Collection of Negro Music, Dance, and Drama (Detroit Public Library).
Sources: Sinnette, Elinor D.V. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, Black Bibliophile & Collector: A Biography. New York: New York Public Library, 1989. Print. ; Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History. Ed. Elinor D.V. Sinnette, W. Paul Coates, and Thomas C. Battle. Washington, D.C.: Howard UP, 1990, 10, 28-29, 33-45, 48, 62, 109, 210. Print. ; Cooper, Glendora Johnson. "African American Historical Continuity: Jean Blackwell Hutson and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture." Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing the Women In. Ed. Suzanne Hildenbrand. Norwood: Ablex, 1996. 27-51. Print. ; "Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture." New York Public Library. New York Public Library, 2011. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. ; "Schomburg Center Celebrates 75th Anniversary." Ebony 56.1 (2000): 144-146, 148, 150. Print. ; "Schomburg Center: Harlem's Gold Mine of Black Research Material." Ebony 37.11 (1982): 62-63, 66. Print. ; "Black History Prophets and Custodians: Handful of Men and Women Created Foundations of Saga of Persistence and Creativity." Ebony 50.4 (1995): 90. Print. ; "Schomburg's Ailing Collection." Ebony 22.12 (1967): 60. Print. ; Dodson, Howard. "The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library." Library Quarterly 58.1 (1988): 74-82. Print. Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 5-6, 20-21, 40, 236, 243, 245, 260. Print. ; Lee, Felicia R. "Harlem Center's Director to Retire in Early 2011." New York Times 19 Apr. 2010: C1. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. ; "IU Historian Named Director of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture." Indiana University News Room 19 Nov. 2010: n.pag. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. ; Copage, Eric V. "The Race to Save Black History: As Art Collections Deteriorate, Preservationists Struggle to Save Our Culture." Ebony 58.4 (2008): 122. Print. ; Des Jardins, Julie. "Black Librarians and the Search for Women's Biography during the New Negro History Movement." OAH Magazine of History 20.1 (2006): 15-17. Print. ; Patton, Stacey. "Guarding the Schomburg's Rich Fabled Legacy: Khalil Muhammad Becomes the First Scholar to Run the Schomburg Center." Crisis 118.1 (2011): 30-31. Print. ; Diouf, Sylviane Anna. "Schomburg, Arturo Alfonso (1874-1938)." BlackPast.org. BlackPast.org, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. ; Jefferson, Julius C. “The Black Male Librarian: An Endangered Species.” The National Diversity in Libraries Conference. Louisville Marriott Downtown, Louisville, KY. 3 Oct. 2008. Pdf.
