The Beinecke vs. The Schomburg vs. The Private Collector

Collection Walter O. Evans

The drama began on the evening of April 9, 2026 at the “Networking Black Print” conference. And from there, it was on, the rumblings of a dynamic often left unspoken: the competition between collections and collectors.

First, during her presentation for the session “The Future of Black Print Collections,” Melissa Barton, curator of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters at the Beinecke Library at Yale University, mentioned one of the institution’s holdings: an edition of God’s Trombones (1927) by James Weldon Johnson.

Next up was Joy L. Bivins, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York, who was also on the panel. She noted that she felt obligated to offer a follow-up to Barton’s presentation. Bivins pointed out that the Schomburg possessed a signed copy of God’s Trombones, an observation that subtly suggested whose collection might hold the edge.

Her remarks brought the competition between the Schomburg and the Beinecke’s Johnson Collection front and center. It was all in good fun, and nearly everyone in the audience laughed. The key word there is nearly.

At least one person didn’t laugh: the collector Walter O. Evans. He listened quietly and bided his time.

The next day, during his own session, Evans offered a set of counterpoints to both Barton and Bivins. He acknowledged what the Beinecke and the Schomburg held, and then emphasized that his own collection was more extensive, more accessible, and more personalized, with books by major figures that were not only autographed but often inscribed.

To illustrate his point, he held up a copy of God’s Trombones and noted that it was, in effect, a collaborative work by Johnson and Aaron Douglas, who provided the illustrations. He went further, referencing a 1941 image Douglas created as a tribute to Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” To see that image, Evans explained, you would need to bypass the Beinecke and the Schomburg and instead visit him and his wife in Savannah, Georgia—where they hold the original.

Heeey, this was something: an individual, not an institution, talking back to some of the most powerful cultural repositories in the country.

Later, on the same panel, rare book dealer Rebecca Romney made an important point. She noted that a financial boom in African American rare books occurred in the early 2010s, when the Smithsonian Institution entered the market aggressively, seeking to acquire materials for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016. Savvy dealers understood that a major player like the Smithsonian would be willing to pay top prices, and the market adjusted accordingly.

It’s not uncommon for scholars to wonder which institution holds the largest or most valuable collection. Is it Yale? Emory? The Schomburg? Another major archive?

What was unusual was the presence of Walter O. Evans at the conference, an African American private collector participating directly in these conversations, offering perspective, and, at moments, issuing a quiet challenge. You don’t see that every day.

Related:

• A Notebook on the Networking Black Print Conference (April 2026)