A PROJECT FOR THE AGES
A Note from Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation
On October 1, 1961, at the invitation of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, left the United States for Accra, Ghana. He was ninety-three years old, and he did not go to retire. He went to begin the most ambitious work of his life: launching the Encyclopedia Africana, a project to document the contributions of Black people to world civilization and culture. This fall marks sixty-five years since that journey, and in this anniversary season we are asking you to help us memorialize him at the site where he is buried in Accra, Ghana.
In the pages that follow, four of the most respected voices of our time explain why. Henry Louis Gates Jr. describes what he found on his visits to the Du Bois Centre in Accra: a leaking roof, books and papers decaying in the humid air, and a tomb in need of care. David Levering Lewis, Du Bois’s two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer, calls on us to build the great library Du Bois dreamt of. Daniel Rose, who at 97 has lived longer than Du Bois, makes the case for preserving the legacy of the father of American scientific sociology. Kwame Anthony Appiah reflects on how Du Bois’s journey from America to Ghana brought the African diaspora full circle. As a Ghanaian American, I am sensitive to the two sides of the project—Ghana and America. Du Bois chose Ghana as his final home, and in doing so he built a bridge between Africa and its diaspora.
The W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation, a New York–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2019, has an agreement with the Government of Ghana to transform the Du Bois Centre into a world-class complex that will showcase the restored Bungalow where the Du Boises lived, a new Mausoleum, a Museum, a Library, a Welcome Center, an Amphitheater, a 110-car Underground Parking garage, and a 50-room Scholars Residence.
Phase one of the Accra projects is the restoration of the Bungalow. Thanks to generous contributions by the Mellon Foundation and the Rose Families, work is proceeding. We plan a re-dedication of the Bungalow on August 27, 2027—the 70th year of Ghana’s Independence, the 50th anniversary of the passing of Shirley Graham Du Bois, and the 64th anniversary of the passing of Dr. Du Bois. You are warmly invited.
All Are Invited to Attend!
Phase two, scheduled to commence in 2028, will construct the complex’s remaining facilities. The Foundation is undertaking the project in partnership with the Government of Ghana, which has contributed nearly four acres of land. The Foundation is responsible for raising the required funds, overseeing restoration and construction, and operating the Centre for an initial period of several years. Together, we are creating a place of pilgrimage honoring Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and his wife, Shirley.
We need your support. Our $200 million fundraising goal includes $60 million for construction, $40 million for operations, and $100 million for endowment to ensure that this sacred site does not fall into disrepair. Every gift, large or small, will help build this place of pilgrimage by preserving Dr. Du Bois’s papers, honoring his life and work, and creating a place where scholars and visitors can gather for research, reflection, and reunion—a sacred space where history can inform a future grounded in mutual acceptance and respect.
Please give at www.webdbmf.org and help us mark the 65th anniversary of Dr. Du Bois’s journey to Ghana by fulfilling this promise.
With gratitude,
Japhet Aryiku
Executive Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation
Help Build the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum & Library
Full Layout of the Museum
The W.E.B. Du Bois Museum & Library Complex will rise on nearly four acres at the Du Bois Centre in Cantonments, Accra: a restored Bungalow, a new Mausoleum, a Museum, a Library, a Welcome Center, an Amphitheater, underground parking and a 50-room Scholars Residence. Renderings and floor plans courtesy of the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation.
