Angela Bassett and Solange Knowles are among the names to be honored at the Centennial Gala Celebration for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a leading institution dedicated to preserving Black history, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.
The Center will honor Bassett, a groundbreaking actor and producer; renowned novelist and short-story writer Edwidge Danticat; distinguished historian and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; acclaimed journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones; and Knowles, a multidisciplinary artist, composer, and visionary curator. James Beard award-winning Chef Gregory Gourdet is curating the night’s menu, inspired by the Schomburg Center collections.
The momentous occasion, set for April 30, will bring together the honorees, guests, celebrities, and supporters of the Center and The New York Public Library for a memorable experience at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in New York City.
Located in the heart of Harlem, New York, the Schomburg Center, a world-renowned research library, houses one of the most significant collections dedicated to the global Black experience. “The Schomburg Center has been a significant access point for generations seeking to learn from and reclaim histories that have been marginalized and neglected,” Schomburg Center director Joy L. Bivins told EBONY.
“This world-class institution has stood the test of time and maintained its commitment to the access and stewardship of millions of items that document and illustrate how people of African descent have shaped our collective past. Its legacy deserves to be celebrated.”
Founded in 1925, The New York Public Library’s Department of Negro Literature, History, and Prints, which was the forerunner to today’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, opened its doors during the height of the Harlem Renaissance.
With 11 million items in its collection, the Schomburg Center’s archive has been internationally recognized as a repository both legendary and illuminating, with holdings such as the papers of Maya Angelou and James Baldwin, a nearly complete run of the Negro Motorist Green Book, and books and art across genres by Black luminaries. A touchstone in Black history, the Schomburg Center was supported by resources from W.E.B. Du Bois, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes, whose ashes are interred there.
The upcoming event’s Gala Committee boasts an impressive lists of performers and advocates, including Charles M. Blow, Colman Domingo, Ava DuVernay, Annette Gordon-Reed, Bill T. Jones, Tayari Jones, Jamaica Kincaid, Carol Sutton Lewis, Julie Mehretu, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Imani Perry, Victoria Rogers, Dean Warren Schomburg, Bevy Smith, Zadie Smith, Darren Walker, and Colson Whitehead. Honorary Co-Chairs for the evening include Anna Bousdoukou and Andreas Dracopoulos, Sherry B. Bronfman, Dr. Carla Hayden, Delroy Lindo, Audra McDonald, and Aysha E. Schomburg. Tickets are now available.
As the institution celebrates its centennial, the moment honors the visionaries, scholars and storytellers who helped build an archive where generations can come to learn, reflect, and reconnect with the richness of the African diaspora.