Festivities Planned for Du Bois' Birthday
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Du Bois, a Great Barrington native, attended the church, located at 9 Elm Court, as a young man. He went on to co-found the NAACP, and founded the organization's journal "Crisis."
The event begins at 2:30 and includes a keynote address by Gene Dattel, author of "Cotton and Race in the Making of America." Dattel's presentation, "Cotton Captivity: The Fate of African Americans," will discuss the views of three African American leaders – Du Bois, Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington – regarding the future of African Americans in the United States.
Other speakers include Maurice Hobson, Managing Director, University of Massachusetts at Amherst W.E.B. Du Bois Center, and Robert Paynter, professor of anthropology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The Just-Now Choir of the Clinton A. M. E. Zion Church will perform music, and light refreshments will be served.
Those interested in attending should R.S.V.P. to Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, 413-229-2668 or wraygunn@msn.com, or to Friends of the Du Bois Homesite, 413-528-3391 or info@DuBoisHomesite.org.
