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Great Barrington Celebrates Du Bois’ 153rd Birthday

A black and white photograph of a bald black man in a suit and bowtie with a mustache
Cornelius Marion Battey
/
Wikipedia Commons
W.E.B. Du Bois in 1918.

Great Barrington, Massachusetts is marking the birthday of native son W.E.B. Du Bois today. 

On his 153rd birthday, the annual Du Bois Legacy Festival continues tonight at 7 p.m. with a virtual event titled “Timeless Messages of Protest & Prophecy” hosted by the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

“We’ll be giving Du Bois awards to both Wray Gunn and Reggie Harris in honor of their work upholding Du Bois’s legacy," said Gwendolyn VanSant, Vice Chair of the Town of Great Barrington Du Bois Legacy Committee. "And also, we’ll have a concert with Dr. Mary Nell Morgan and Wanda Houston singing the sorrow songs of Du Bois and also we’ll be hearing from the newly renamed Du Bois Middle School students talking about how they feel about the renaming and asking them some important questions.”

There’s more information here.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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