Great Barrington in Berkshire County, Massachusetts — The American Northeast (New England)

W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement

W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

1. W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Marker

Inscription.

W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement. W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site. , ”Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.” , , W.E.B. Du Bois, “Returning Soldiers,” The Crisis, May 1919 , William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) fought for democracy and freedom in a world of racial and economic injustice. Long before Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela, Du Bois' writings, speeches, and organizational genius laid the foundation for civil rights movements in the U.S.A. and around the world. His pen and voice helped bring independence to the nations of Africa. And he rewrote American history to portray more truthfully the importance of African Americans in our country's growth and development. , For Du Bois, the battle for civil rights and democracy went hand in hand. Du Bois proclaimed, "Democracy is a method of realizing the broadest measure of justice to all human beings." He first learned about democracy in the town meetings of Great Barrington, the place of his birth, and advocated it throughout his life. Great Barrington, and this Homesite which his family owned for 150 years, were important to him to the day he died. , The W.E.B. Du Bois Homesite reminds us of Du Bois' struggle for a more just world. On the trail leading to the remains of his ancestral home and back, you will learn about his family, his remarkable achievements, and the importance of his ideas for today., "Over most of our history, democracy has been strictly limited, now by religion and status, now by race, now by ownership of property, later by the slave system, then by legal disenfranchisement, and today by the power of corporate wealth." , , W.E.B. Du Bois, In Battle for Peace, 1952 , "From early years, I attended the town meeting every Spring and listened to the citizens discuss things about which I knew and had opinions… I began to see that this was the essence of democracy: listening to the other man's opinion and then voting your own, honestly and intelligently." , , W.E.B. Du Bois, Autobiography, 1968 , ”Democracy is a method of realizing the broadest measure of justice…” , , W.E.B. Du Bois, Darkwater, 1920

”Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.”
—W.E.B. Du Bois, “Returning Soldiers,” The Crisis, May 1919

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) fought for democracy and freedom in a world of racial and economic injustice. Long before Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela, Du Bois' writings, speeches, and organizational genius laid the foundation for civil rights movements in the U.S.A. and around the world. His pen and voice helped bring independence to the nations of Africa. And he rewrote American history to portray more truthfully the importance of African Americans in our country's growth and development.

For Du Bois, the battle for civil rights and democracy went hand in hand. Du Bois proclaimed, "Democracy is a method of realizing the broadest measure of justice to all human beings." He first learned about democracy in the town meetings of Great Barrington, the place of his birth, and advocated it throughout his life. Great Barrington, and this Homesite which his family owned for 150 years, were important to him to the day he died.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Homesite reminds us of Du Bois' struggle for a more just world. On the trail leading to the remains

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of his ancestral home and back, you will learn about his family, his remarkable achievements, and the importance of his ideas for today.

"Over most of our history, democracy has been strictly limited, now by religion and status, now by race, now by ownership of property, later by the slave system, then by legal disenfranchisement, and today by the power of corporate wealth."
—W.E.B. Du Bois, In Battle for Peace, 1952

"From early years, I attended the town meeting every Spring and listened to the citizens discuss things about which I knew and had opinions… I began to see that this was the essence of democracy: listening to the other man's opinion and then voting your own, honestly and intelligently."
—W.E.B. Du Bois, Autobiography, 1968

”Democracy is a method of realizing the broadest measure of justice…”
—W.E.B. Du Bois, Darkwater, 1920

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Education • Peace. A significant historical year for this entry is 1868.

Location. 42° 10.662′ N, 73° 23.607′ W. Marker has been reported damaged. Marker is in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in Berkshire County. Marker can be reached from South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41

Marker detail: W.E.B. Du Bois<br>(1868-1963) image. Click for full size.

Courtesy Library of Congress

2. Marker detail: W.E.B. Du Bois
(1868-1963)

(Silver gelatin photographic print by C.M. Battey, 1918)

) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south. Marker is located along the W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite interpretive trail. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 612 South Egremont Road, Great Barrington MA 01230, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite (within shouting distance of this marker); Democracy and Human Rights (within shouting distance of this marker); A Tireless Explorer of Social Truths (within shouting distance of this marker); The House of the Black Burghardts (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); I Have A Sentimental Desire to Keep this Place (about 300 feet away); A Contribution that No Other Race Can Make (about 300 feet away); Boulder Dedicated to the Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois (about 300 feet away); Grass Roots Democracy (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Great Barrington.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site

Also see . . .
1. W.E.B. Du Bois. NAACP website entry:

Before becoming a founding member of NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois was already well known as one of the foremost Black intellectuals of his era. The first Black American to earn a PhD from Harvard University, Du Bois published widely before becoming NAACP's director of publicity and research and starting the organization's official
W.E.B. Du Bois Papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Mass. Amherst

3. Marker detail: W.E.B. Du Bois speaking at Atlanta University in 1920
Du Bois celebrated the valor of African American soldiers in World War I, who fought with the U.S. Army in France in segregated units.
journal, The Crisis, in 1910.

(Submitted on March 29, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site.

During his prolific career, Du Bois confronted racism, poverty, the subordination of women, environmental degradation, the horror of war, and nuclear weapons. He promoted education as a fundamental right and was a central figure in twentieth-century movements for world peace, civil rights, and self-determination for people of African descent.

(Submitted on March 29, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Marker detail:<br>Du Bois at his high school graduation in 1884 image. Click for full size.

W.E.B. Du Bois Papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Mass. Amherst

4. Marker detail:
Du Bois at his high school graduation in 1884

His address at the ceremony celebrated the life of the abolitionist Wendell Phillips, who had died earlier that year.

Marker detail: W.E.B. Du Bois image. Click for full size.

W.E.B. Du Bois Papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Mass. Amherst

5. Marker detail: W.E.B. Du Bois

Throughout his life, Du Bois sided with the forces of democracy over the entrenched powers that would limit it.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

6. W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Marker

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

7. W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Marker

(homesite interpretive trail in background)

Photographed By Steve Stoessel, March 20, 2023

8. W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Marker

Damaged marker

Photographed By Steve Stoessel, March 20, 2023

9. W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on April 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 27, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 173 times since then and 14 times this year. Last updated on March 23, 2023, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 28, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 5. submitted on March 29, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 6, 7. submitted on March 28, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 8, 9. submitted on March 23, 2023, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.