Abstract
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was one of the greatest scholars of his time. A pioneer of the field of sociology, Du Bois also produced groundbreaking histories of his own country, as well as the Atlantic World, and Africa. He documented the Black experience in America from 1619 to the beginnings of the Civil Rights era and changed the way people think and talk about race in America. Du Bois was also a tireless and hugely influential activist and leader of movements for social change and racial justice in America and internationally. He co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convened several Pan-African Congresses, and participated in peace activism well into his eighties. The W. E. B. Du Bois papers, an astonishing collection of nearly 100,000 items that takes up 294 boxes and 122.59 linear feet, resides at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This priceless collection has formed the basis of some of the most important scholarly work on Du Bois of the last four decades. It is also the raison d’etre of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center, a unique space on campus that brings the collection, and Du Bois’s other work to life with a year-round series of events and programs. This study presents a brief history of the collection and describe the work of the Center as we try to think through and with Du Bois about the issues of our own time.
Presenters
Adam HolmesAssistant Director, W. E. B. Du Bois Center, UMass Amherst Libraries, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
ARCHIVES, SCHOLARSHIP, RACE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, CIVIL RIGHTS, BLACK HISTORY, ACTIVISM
