W. E. B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite

Southwest of Great Barrington along Massachusetts Route 41, much of the area is open fields, people’s homes, and small forests. In one spot on the side of the road, there’s a large red sign and a small parking area leading into the woods. Although it may look quaint, the name on the sign might sound familiar, as the individual who once lived here became one of the most influential civil rights activists in US history.  

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington in 1868. His mother was Mary Silvina Burghardt Du Bois, who was descended from Tom Burghardt, a former slave who fought in the Continental Army and purchased some land in the area after obtaining his freedom. Great Barrington at the time was home to a small free Black community, and the "Black Burghardts" settled in the Egremont Plain area outside of town. Despite living in a majority white community, Du Bois was generally well treated by his neighbors and peers, and after graduating from high school, the First Congregational Church of Great Barrington helped raise money for his college tuition. 

As an adult, Du Bois became a very prominent civil rights advocate. Some of his contributions include attending the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900, organizing The Exhibit of American Negroes at the 1900 Paris World Exposition, which showcased the progress and accomplishments of African Americans, joining the Niagara Movement, which opposed racial segregation in 1905, being one of the founders of the NAACP in 1909, promoting the Harlem Renaissance through the 1920s, and being part of the NAACP delegation to the United Nations conference in San Francisco in 1945. Throughout his life, he was also a very prolific writer, authoring many works against racism, segregation, and discrimination, and being critical of capitalism and imperialism. By the start of the Cold War, many of Du Bois’ political views had come to the attention of the federal government, and he had split from many mainstream civil rights groups, including the NAACP. Feeling isolated and alienated, he eventually moved to recently independent Ghana in West Africa, where he died in 1963. 

Although Du Bois lived a long and extensive life all over the world, his early years began at a very small home originally owned by his grandfather in a patch of woods in Great Barrington. He spent the first five years of his life in the area, and he recalled the location very fondly. His actual birthplace was torn down around 1900, and he expressed interest in preserving his grandfather’s property. His brothers were able to raise funds to buy the home for his 60th birthday in 1928. He had plans to renovate it, but due to financial difficulties and other restraints, he was unable to do so. He eventually sold it in 1954 to a neighbor who had the old and dilapidated house torn down. 

In 1967, real estate developer Walter Wilson and psychology professor Edmund Gordon purchased the old Burghardt property and declared their intention to turn the site into a memorial to Du Bois. It was met with considerable local opposition due to Du Bois’ socialist and communist political sympathies during a time when the US was heavily involved in the Vietnam War. The memorial was officially dedicated in 1969, but no permanent displays or signage were installed by the owners for fear of vandalism and theft. In 1976, the site was declared a National Historic Landmark, and in 1987, ownership was transferred over to UMass Amherst, which had begun archaeological excavations several years earlier. The University paid for the construction of a parking lot and installed numerous interpretive signs. 

Today, the site features a short walking path through the forest dotted with informational signs leading to where the Du Bois home once stood. Although the house itself is gone, the foundation still remains alongside what appears to be remnants of a fireplace. Du Bois’ political legacy may be considered complex, but his contributions and efforts in pioneering racial equality and an end to discrimination were, in many ways, groundbreaking. He has gone down in history as one of history’s most significant civil rights leaders, and the memorial site ensures his life and legacy will be remembered for many generations to come.