Under Dr. Dodson’s leadership, the Schomburg Center has developed into the world’s most comprehensive public research library devoted exclusively to documenting and interpreting African diasporan and African history and culture. During his tenure, the Center’s collections have more than quadrupled, totaling over 20 million items. In 1989 he completed a $15.2 million capital campaign. In 1991 he completed a major physical development program which renovated the original Schomburg Center building and created the Langston Hughes Auditorium. More recently, he completed a $25 million 75^th Anniversary Capital Campaign raising $26.2 million.

Dr. Dodson has published five books as well as articles and essays in newspapers, exhibition catalogs and professional journals. His most recent publications are Jubilee: The Emergence of African-American Culture (National Geographic Press, 2002) and In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience (National Geographic Press, 2004). He has curated exhibitions on such diverse themes as Censorship and Black America and Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery, and has organized and produced major performing arts events at Carnegie Hall and the Schubert and Majestic theaters on Broadway. Most recently, he conceived, organized and directed the development of a major website entitled In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience. Comprised of over 25,000 pages of texts and images, the site documents the migrations of people of African descent to, within and out of the United States from the era of the transatlantic slave trade to the present.

Dr. Dodson served as Chair of the Federal Steering Committee on the African Burial Ground. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, serving on its executive committee and as Chair of its Cultural Arts Committee. He was director of the research study to establish The New York State Freedom Trail. He also was a member of the President’s Commission on the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Apollo Theater and serves on the Scientific and Technical Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture is co-sponsored by the Akron-Summit County Public Library and the Eta Tau Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.

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