GREAT BARRINGTON — W.E.B. Du Bois was 21 years old when his first-born child, a son named Burghardt, died of diptheria. “We could not lay him in the ground there in Georgia, for the earth there is strangely red; so we bore him away to the north-ward, with his flowers and his little folded hands,” Du Bois wrote in his 1903 book “The Souls of Black Folk.” Burghardt was ultimately buried in Great Barrington, the place of his father’s birth, in a family plot at the Mahaiwe Cemetery, where Du Bois went on to bury his first wife Nina and daughter Yolande.
Last fall, before her death, Du Bois’ granddaughter Yolande “Du Bois” Williams Irvin asked to be laid to rest at the Du Bois Family site — a request which will be fulfilled Saturday, Feb. 19 as part of the Town of Great Barrington’s 5th-annual Du Bois Legacy Festival.
“This is a special reparations moment in our racial justice organizing,” said Gwendolyn VanSant, founding executive director of BRIDGE (formerly known as Multicultural BRIDGE). Highlighting the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois — noted scholar, writer, co-founder of the NAACP and civil rights activist — has not only been a tradition in Great Barrington since 2018 (when the occasion of his 150th birthday was celebrated), honoring his work through racial justice campaigns has been the backbone of BRIDGE’s 15-year tenure in the community. The group recently advocated and organized across constituencies to rename the local public school to honor Du Bois. In a letter to community partners, VanSant pointed to “challenges we have faced in honoring Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois in his hometown,” while underscoring the importance of ongoing racial work “not only to honor him but also all of the activists and scholars before us that have worked diligently, tirelessly, and earnestly.”
Founded in 2007, BRIDGE is a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing equity and justice by promoting cultural competence, positive psychology, and mutual understanding and acceptance. The minority- and women-run nonprofit acts as a catalyst for change through collaboration, education, training, dialogue, fellowship, and advocacy. “Dr. Williams Irvin was exceptionally inspired by our work within this community to rightfully honor Dr. W.E.B Du Bois in his hometown,” said VanSant who, along with her team at BRIDGE, was tasked with arranging Williams Irvin’s memorial service.
The week-long series of events commemorating the local legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois and his family, including their work for civil rights and social justice, unfolds in advance of the 154th anniversary of Du Bois’ birth on February 23rd, which has been declared an official town holiday. Highlights include:
On Friday, Feb. 18, Jeff Peck, the great-grandson of Du Bois and the son of Dr. Williams Irvin, will visit W.E.B. Du Bois Middle School for the day, where Principal Ben Doren and students will serve as hosts. On Friday evening at 7 p.m., a staged reading of “Knock Me A Kiss” (inspired by the 1928 marriage of Du Bois’ daughter Yolande to one of the great poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Countee Cullen) will take place at the Tina Packer Playhouse in Lenox. The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-produced by BRIDGE and Shakespeare & Co., and directed by Regge Life. A panel discussion, moderated by VanSant, will follow.
On Saturday, Feb. 19 at 11 a.m., the Memorial Service for Dr. Yolande “Du Bois” Williams Irvin will take place at the First Congregational Church in Great Barrington, with Bishop Dr. James Dixon presiding. The Honoring and Unveiling Service will follow at 2 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Cemetery. A W.E.B. Du Bois Tour with NAACP and partners is tentatively planned for Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center joins the Town of Great Barrington to present this year’s W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Festival remotely for participants to view over the course of three evenings, February 21–23 at 5:30 p.m. Further details will be forthcoming on the Mahaiwe website.
“While it’s notable that this celebration of Dr. Williams Irvin’s life is taking place during Black History Month, we remain committed to reiterating that Black History is American History and should be amplified throughout the year,” said VanSant, who called Du Bois a hero. “He guided us to reckon with the very foundation of this country while living and navigating his own professional, academic, and family life. He was founder of the NAACP, co-founder of the Niagara Movement, the first Black PhD graduate of Harvard, the father of sociology, and much more. He left volumes of work for us to learn from, and he was unafraid to learn more, course correct, and keep reckoning. His granddaughter, Dr. Du Bois Williams Irvin, continued in his footsteps, promoting education, empathy, and civil rights in her career as a member of the psychology faculty at the highly-ranked HBCU Xavier University in New Orleans, helping students achieve academic success and maintain personal wellness.” (Watch this interview to learn more about W.E.B. Du Bois through the eyes of Dr. Williams Irvin.)
VanSant spoke of this particular moment, being called upon to steward Dr. Williams Irvin’s homecoming, as “one of the most rewarding moments in my lifetime,” adding that the work before us, as a community and a country, “takes many forms from many hands.”
NOTE: In honor of Yolande Du Bois Williams Irvin’s life, the family has set up a Foundation to support Young Women of Color and their academic pursuits and well-being. Please send checks with the memo “Du Bois Williams Irvin Foundation” to: BRIDGE, 17 Main St., Suite 5, Lee, MA 01238.
