Princeton Preservation Group Presents:
How Romana Javitz and Arturo Schomburg Shaped Representations of Race in New York Public Library Collections
Speaker: Mary Panzer, Independent Historian
June 18, 2026, 7pm
Abstract
Researchers know that the NYPL collection of FSA images differs from that at
The Library of Congress. We also know that the rich pictorial representation of African American life at NYPL — both in the Picture Collection and the Schomburg Collection — owes a great deal to the collaboration between these two forceful curators. This paper will discuss evidence of the ways in which Javitz and Schomburg worked together as shown in terms of photography and print material at the NYPL.
About the Speaker
Mary Panzer is a historian of photography and American culture, with a special interest in images made for the public sphere. In the 1990s, Dr. Panzer served as Curator of Photographs for the National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution), where she published biographies of Mathew Brady and Philippe Halsman. She is co-author of the prizewinning Things as They Are: Photojournalism in Context since 1995 (2005). Her most recent publications include essays on Commercial Street Photographers in San Francisco, and the origins of LIFE magazine. She is working on a history of commercial photography in America, 1935-1965.
About the Lecture Series
The Princeton Preservation Group has been meeting several times per year since 1983 to hear lectures on a wide range of topic relating to the preservation of cultural artifacts, including but not limited to books, manuscripts, artwork, furniture, photographs, tombstones, Lucy the Elephant, costumes, videotapes, and buildings. Recent meetings have been held in Manalapan, Princeton, New Brunswick, Morristown, and Lawrenceville. Meetings are open to the public without charge.
Among others, topics have included:
Disaster Recovery: Mold and Water Damage
Preserving Ethnic Materials
Binding Rare Books
Historic Building Conservation
Digitizing Photograph Collections
For more information, including membership (dues are $5 per year) and a list of past programs, see http://princetonpreservation.org
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