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

Grass Roots Democracy

W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

1. Grass Roots Democracy Marker

Inscription.

Grass Roots Democracy. W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site. , Du Bois' campaigns for democracy were not always popular, even with those who shared his goals. In 1951, at the height of the Cold War, the United States government alleged that the 83-year-old scholar was an unregistered foreign agent for his advocacy of international cooperation for nuclear disarmament. The Justice Department indicted him, lifted his passport, and placed him under surveillance. Even though the government failed to prove its case, for many, Du Bois' reputation had become tarnished. , In 1961, Du Bois accepted president Kwame Nkrumah’s invitation to live and work in Ghana. Du Bois never renounced his American citizenship, and that same year applied to join the Communist Party USA because of its stand against racial discrimination and exploitation. The combination of these actions all but erased the public memory of his earlier achievements. , But not everyone forgot the power of Du Bois' insights and the scope of his accomplishments. Three years after Du Bois' death, Berkshire-area residents Dr. Edmund Gordon and Walter Wilson purchased the site in Great Barrington where Du Bois' house had stood. They bought an additional four acres in order to create a memorial park. The Du Bois National Memorial Foundation formed to support their efforts. In October 1969, under surveillance by the FBI, 800 men and women from across America attended the dedication the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Park and the commemorative boulder you see here. The Foundation obtained National Historic Landmark designation for the property in 1979, and donated it to the University of Massachusetts in 1987. , "I want progress; I want education; I want social medicine; I want a living wage and old-age security; I want employment for all and relief for the unemployed and sick; I want public works, public services, and public improvements. I want freedom for my people. And because I know and you know that we cannot have these things, and at the same time fight, destroy, and kill all around the world in order to make huge profit for big business , for that reason, I take my stand beside the millions in every nation and continent and cry Peace , No More War!" , , W.E.B. Du Bois, I Take My Stand for Peace, 1951 , ”A free ballot in the hands of a free man is the one way of maintaining democracy and insuring social progress.” , , W.E.B. Du Bois, Amsterdam News, May 8, 1943 . This historical marker is in Great Barrington in Berkshire County Massachusetts

Du Bois' campaigns for democracy were not always popular, even with those who shared his goals. In 1951, at the height of the Cold War, the United States government alleged that the 83-year-old scholar was an unregistered foreign agent for his advocacy of international cooperation for nuclear disarmament. The Justice Department indicted him, lifted his passport, and placed him under surveillance. Even though the government failed to prove its case, for many, Du Bois' reputation had become tarnished.

In 1961, Du Bois accepted president Kwame Nkrumah’s invitation to live and work in Ghana. Du Bois never renounced his American citizenship, and that same year applied to join the Communist Party USA because of its stand against racial discrimination and exploitation. The combination of these actions all but erased the public memory of his earlier achievements.

But not everyone forgot the power of Du Bois' insights and the scope of his accomplishments. Three years after Du Bois' death, Berkshire-area residents Dr. Edmund Gordon and Walter Wilson purchased the site in Great Barrington where Du Bois' house had stood. They bought an

Marker detail: U.S. Senate poster (1950) image. Click for full size.

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

2. Marker detail: U.S. Senate poster (1950)

Despite attacks on his character, Du Bois did not give up on the promise of American democracy and remained popular with many in the Black community. When he ran for U.S. Senate from New York as the American Labor Party candidate in 1950, his percentage of the vote was four times greater in Harlem than it was statewide.

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additional four acres in order to create a memorial park. The Du Bois National Memorial Foundation formed to support their efforts. In October 1969, under surveillance by the FBI, 800 men and women from across America attended the dedication the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Park and the commemorative boulder you see here. The Foundation obtained National Historic Landmark designation for the property in 1979, and donated it to the University of Massachusetts in 1987.

"I want progress; I want education; I want social medicine; I want a living wage and old-age security; I want employment for all and relief for the unemployed and sick; I want public works, public services, and public improvements. I want freedom for my people. And because I know and you know that we cannot have these things, and at the same time fight, destroy, and kill all around the world in order to make huge profit for big business — for that reason, I take my stand beside the millions in every nation and continent and cry Peace — No More War!"
—W.E.B. Du Bois, I Take My Stand for Peace, 1951

”A free ballot in the hands of a free man is the one way of maintaining democracy and insuring social progress.”
—W.E.B. Du Bois, Amsterdam News, May 8, 1943

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

Marker detail: Du Bois Indicted (1951) image. Click for full size.

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

3. Marker detail: Du Bois Indicted (1951)

Du Bois’ indictment prompted a spirited defense that enlisted Albert Einstein, among others, and led to the dismissal of all charges. This ad originally appeared in the African American newspaper the Pittsburgh Courier in August 1951.

• Civil Rights • Peace • War, Cold.

Location. 42° 10.676′ N, 73° 23.686′ W. Marker is in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in Berkshire County. Marker can be reached from South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 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 marker. Boulder Dedicated to the Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois (a few steps from this marker); A Contribution that No Other Race Can Make (within shouting distance of this marker); I Have A Sentimental Desire to Keep this Place (within shouting distance of this marker); A Tireless Explorer of Social Truths (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Democracy and Human Rights (about 300 feet away); The House of the Black Burghardts (about 300 feet away); W.E.B. Du Bois: Architect of the Modern Civil Rights Movement (about 400 feet away); W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Great Barrington.

Related markers.

Marker detail: World Conference of Partisans of Peace image. Click for full size.

Courtesy Associated Press

4. Marker detail: World Conference of Partisans of Peace

Du Bois addressing the World Conference of Partisans of Peace, Paris, April 1949.

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

Also see . . . W.E.B. Du Bois: Peace Activism.

Du Bois was a lifelong anti-war activist, but his efforts became more pronounced after World War II. In the spring of 1949, he spoke at the World Congress of the Partisans of Peace in Paris, saying to the large crowd: "Leading this new colonial imperialism comes my own native land built by my father's toil and blood, the United States. The United States is a great nation; rich by grace of God and prosperous by the hard work of its humblest citizens… Drunk with power we are leading the world to hell in a new colonialism with the same old human slavery which once ruined us; and to a third World War which will ruin the world."

(Submitted on March 30, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Marker detail: Du Bois National Historic Site image. Click for full size.

Courtesy Donald B. Victor, 1976

5. Marker detail: Du Bois National Historic Site

Throughout the 1970’s a volunteer work crew maintained the “Du Bois National Historic Site,” marking it with a hand-lettered sign.

Marker detail: Julian Bond, Ossie Davis,<br>Dr. Edmund Gordon & Walter Wilson image. Click for full size.

by Walter Scott, originally published in the Berkshire Eagle, October 25, 1969

6. Marker detail: Julian Bond, Ossie Davis,
Dr. Edmund Gordon & Walter Wilson

Georgia legislator Julian Bond (top left), who later chaired the National Board of the NAACP, gave the keynote address at the dedication of the Du Bois Memorial Park in 1969, Actor Ossie Davis (top right) emceed the event, a reprise of the role he and his wife Ruby Dee played at the March on Washington in 1963. Dr. Edmund Gordon (bottom left) a Professor of Psychology at Columbia University, had served as National Research Director for Project Head Start. Before he became a land developer in Western Massachusetts, Walter Wilson (bottom right) was Southern Secretary for the American Civil Liberties Union. You can view an 8 minute film from the dedication ceremony at the "Media and Exhibits" page of University of Massachusetts Amherst Special Collections and University Archives website, htttp://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/dubois/.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

7. Grass Roots Democracy Marker

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 4, 2019

8. Grass Roots Democracy Marker

(W.E.B. Du Bois homesite interpretive trail in background)

Credits. This page was last revised on April 2, 2022. It was originally submitted on March 27, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 6 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on March 30, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.