To the editor:
There is a confusing document being presented at the October 23 Town Meeting in Great Barrington: “We are petitioning the town of Great Barrington to put to a VOTE whether the VOTERS want a redesign of the Mason Public library grounds.”
I am surprised that 100-plus townspeople find it necessary to petition the Selectboard for a public vote on whether or not to restore the Mason Library’s condemned steps and broken lighting. I am also surprised that, after two years of very public fundraising, our non-profit group must defend our goal of placing a statue of W.E.B. Du Bois in front of the library.
And yet, how appropriate that this petition will be voted on during a Special Town Meeting to decide the fate of South County’s public high schools.
In 1870 the citizens of Great Barrington voted the sum of $2,000 to fund its first public high school. Because of the town’s deep commitment to education, Du Bois—just a toddler when the high school was founded—grew up to graduate as that high school’s valedictorian.
A group of local citizens was so impressed with the young man’s talent that they raised funds to send him to college. With their support, Du Bois became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. He went on to become one of the nation’s leading sociologists and a champion of civil rights.
We should all be proud of our history and proud of our community’s commitment to higher education. I hope the citizens who gather to determine the future of education in South County will stick around to celebrate its past—and vote against this ambiguous petition.
Julie Michaels, co-chair of the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project
Great Barrington
