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Levi Sandy Alexander Gumby (February 1, 1885 – March 16, 1961) was an African-American archivist and historian. His collection of 300 scrapbooks documenting African-American history have been part of the collection of Columbia University since 1950 as the ''Alexander Gumby Collection of Negroiana''. Gumby was also the proprietor of a popular bookstore during the Harlem Renaissance, where he was host of a salon. Gumby's passion for collecting earned him the nicknames "The Count" and "Mr. Scrapbook".〔 ==Life== Born in Maryland, Gumby was the son of an evangelist, Levi Thomas Gumby, and his wife, Louisa Morris. He and his sister were sent to live with their grandparents in 1901.〔 Gumby studied law at Dover State College in Delaware at the behest of his grandmother, but feeling his inadequacy in law he moved to New York City, which would be his home until his death.〔 Gumby embraced life in New York, saying in his 1952 essay ''The Adventures of My Scrapbook'' that "At once I became a New Yorker in spirit and principle for I found here more freedom of action than I had ever known before".〔 Six of his scrapbooks are autobiographical, labelled "Gumby's Autobiography".〔 In his early days in New York, Gumby took a number of minor jobs to support his collecting, working as a butler to a banker, a bellhop, and a postal worker during World War I.〔 Gumby also founded the Southern Utopia Fraternity, an organization to support young men who came from the Southern States to New York in search of work and opportunities.〔 Gumby was forced to abandon his bookshop as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and was admitted to hospital as a result of the loss of his studio and fatigue, and spent four years in hospitals on North Brother Island and Randall's Island on New York City's East River.〔 Working as a waiter at Columbia University, Gumby began fraternizing with academia and students. He would eventually leave his collection to Columbia, and was hired by the university to organize the collection for eight months. He added to it until his death from tuberculosis.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「L. S. Alexander Gumby」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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