Culture Chronicle

Harlem Center's Director to Retire in Early 2011
The New York Times - April 18, 2010
By Felicia R. Lee

Howard Dodson, whose wide-ranging acquisitions and major exhibitions have raised the profile of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and burnished its reputation as the premier institution of its kind, plans to retire as its director in 2011.The Schomburg Center, in Harlem, is part of the New York Public Library, which is scheduled to announce his retirement on Monday.Since Mr. Dodson became the director in 1984 the Schomburg's holdings went from 5 million to 10 million items, including the acquisition of the collections of Melville J. Herskovits, John Henrik Clarke, Lorraine Hansberry, Malcolm X and Nat King Cole, among others. Attendance tripled to about 120,000 people annually. Mr. Dodson was the curator or co-curator for major exhibitions on subjects like slavery and black migration, and put on shows displaying the art of Romare Bearden and African women. For the full article, click here