Malcolm X claimed his alma mater was books, but if he was being more specific, he might have claimed his degree from the National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem, New York City. The store, which housed over 200,000 texts, operated for almost 40 years on the corner of what is now Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and 125th Street. Malcolm X was just one of the store’s frequent patrons, but he was certainly one of its most dedicated. He is reported to have spend entire days at the National Memorial African Bookstore, and when the owner, and on occasion even stayed overnight. Other patrons include Kwame Nkrumah and W.E.B. Du Bois, who met his wife Shirley Graham there. Celebrities such as Joe Louis, Eartha Kitt, and Louis Armstrong held autograph parties at the store. Just outside the storefront was the intersection affectionately dubbed Harlem Square, where speakers often preached black nationalism. Lewis Michaux, the owner, was himself a black nationalist, and supported the various movements that were popular in Harlem between the 1930s and 1960s. Michaux espoused Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa movement and stocked his business with all the necessary books for black political thought.

HistoryMaker Charles Blockson happed upon the National Memorial African Bookstore as a young man and became another dedicated patron: “On my way to the Schomburg on 125th Street, I saw a sign, "National Memorial Bookstore," so that's when I went in and that's--I met Mr. Michaux. And from that period, every other week and every couple of weeks, I would go to the bookstore. I met Langston Hughes there one day. One day he was coming in, and Mr. Michaux would call and say,

“Allow me, Brother Blockson, from Philadelphia”--so I lived in--outside of Philadelphia [Pennsylvania]--he said, Langston, come here. I want you to meet a, a collector, a friend of mine. So I was here meeting Langston Hughes.”