W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation Awarded $5m Grant by Mellon Foundation

NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ — The W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation (WEBDBMF) received a $5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation (Mellon) of New York to support the restoration of the final home and resting place of Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois in Accra, Ghana and the preservation of his library. The grant provides leadership funds for four years in Phase 1 of the Du Bois Museum’s plans to restore the historic site and develop an expanded museum and academic research center to celebrate his life and legacy. The award is consistent with Mellon’s Humanities in Place’s goal of supporting, “a fuller, more complex telling of American histories and lived experiences.”

“The W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation is gratified to have the faith, confidence, and partnership of Mellon Foundation,” said Mr. Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director of the WEBDBMF. “With this award, WEBDBMF-Ghana will undertake and complete the first phase of our work in Accra in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism Art and Culture to ensure that Du Bois’s home, resting place, and library are preserved to inspire future generations. Mellon’s support fuels our efforts to raise additional funds to develop a museum complex similar in stature to those dedicated to the life, times, and knowledge of great thinkers and leaders like Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This leadership grant will preserve and enhance Du Bois’s legacy and amplify his essential African American and Pan African voice in the global public dialogue.”

Phase 1 of WEBDBMF’s work comprises four major activities:

• The restoration of the bungalow where Du Bois lived from 1961-1963 with his wife Dr. Shirley Graham Du Bois;
• The restoration and preservation of the 1,500 books and papers that Du Bois brought to Ghana as part of his work to complete the Encyclopedia Africana;
• The restoration and preservation of the academic gowns, textiles, and artifacts used by Du Bois and his wife; and
• Capacity building and administrative support.

Du Bois (1868 – 1963) stands at the summit of African and African American history and culture. He was foundational in the development of modern African American letters and gave form to the consciousness animating the work of practically all other modern African American intellectuals to follow. A searing critic of racial oppression, a political activist and institution builder, an author and editor, a historian, philosopher, pioneering sociologist, teacher, and Pan-Africanist, Du Bois early on articulated a vision for free and independent African nations.

SOURCE The W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation