In 1916 and once more in 1933, W.E.B. Du Bois and Joel Elias Spingarn gathered thinkers and leaders in Amenia, New York on the Troutbeck property. Later referred to as the Amenia Conferences, the gatherings weren’t a method to an finish. The aim wasn’t to supply books or treatises. As a substitute, these conferences of the thoughts had been intentional havens the place intellectuals might be impressed by each other via dialog, debate, and proximity to the movers and shakers of the time.
Whereas each Spingarn and Du Bois had been each civil rights activists, educators, leaders and students, Du Bois’ legacy within the Berkshires is a continuing supply of inspiration for students within the space. This was the case in 2021, when lengthy after his dying, Tufts historians Dr. Kendra Taira Area, Dr. Kerri Greenidge, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning creator David Levering Lewis (who actually wrote the e book on Du Bois) based the Du Bois Discussion board, a retreat for artists, writers, and different teachers, to uplift one another’s work, join with DuBois’ legacy, and interact in mental and inventive discourse.
“To start with, it was very a lot a labor of affection,” mentioned co-founder Kendra Area. The discussion board was a easy gathering of teachers, writers and artists partaking within the custom of Black intellectualism cast by thinkers like Du Bois. However at this time, it’s an expansive weekend exploring the footsteps of Du Bois within the Berkshires.
The discussion board weekend begins Friday, July 18, with the fourth annual Du Bois Discussion board Roundtable and Celebration at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts. The roundtable runs from 4 to five p.m. and can characteristic Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch, Thavolia Glymph of Duke College, Brandon Terry of Harvard, Nathan Connolly of Johns Hopkins, and Elizabeth Hinton of Yale, alongside Discussion board fellows. This system contains creator signings and recognition of associate organizations. A efficiency by Crimson Clay Dance Firm follows at 5:30 p.m., and the night concludes with a ticketed dinner program from 7 to 9:30 p.m., which incorporates the discussion board’s 2025 awards ceremony. Honorees embrace Bunch, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Diane Patrick, and Embrace Boston Govt Director Imari Paris Jeffries.
On Saturday, July 19, the discussion board will host a free public occasion titled “W.E.B. Du Bois and the Black Berkshires,” a historic tour from 12:30 to three p.m. in Nice Barrington, the luminary’s hometown. Stops embrace James Weldon Johnson’s writing cabin and the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, now dwelling to the Du Bois Freedom Middle. The tour concludes at 2 p.m., with the revealing of a statue of Du Bois exterior the Mason Library. The sculpture, by artist Richard Blake, was commissioned by the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Undertaking. Remarks will probably be delivered by Deval Patrick and discussion board co-founder David Levering Lewis.
The weekend closes Sunday, July 20, with a panel dialogue from 1 to 2 p.m. at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Titled “W.E.B. Du Bois: Scholar, Artist, and Architect of the Civil Rights Motion,” the panel will embrace Blake, artist Delano Burrowes, Nationwide Sculpture Society Govt Director Gwen Pier, and discussion board fellows Chad Williams and Frances Jones-Sneed. The occasion is free and open to the general public.
The Du Bois Discussion board extends past its annual gatherings by providing a variety of year-round applications that assist writers, students, and artists. These initiatives embrace seasonal conferences, writing retreats, and workshops targeted on skilled improvement. By these actions, the discussion board goals to domesticate a group devoted to advancing African American historical past, tradition, and scholarship whereas fostering new voices and collaborative artistic work — the way in which Du Bois would’ve needed it.
“Du Bois was method forward of his time,” mentioned Area. “He was all the time type of transferring with the instances, and excited about what the following problem is.” For more information, go to duboisforum.com.
