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A Voice from the “Present Past”: W. E. B. Du Bois and His Lessons for Our Time

“Dr. Du Bois has left us, but he has not died. The spirit of freedom is not buried in the grave of the valiant.” So said Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been W. E. B. Du Bois’s 100th birthday. The spirit of Du Bois has given strength and purpose to scholars and advocates for social justice since his passing in 1963. His written work continues to inspire readers yearning for a keener insight into the troubled history of race in this country. It also provides intellectual and philosophical frameworks for understanding global affairs and the continued international struggle for equality. Du Bois’s life as an activist continues to provide a shining example for those struggling for justice in our own time.

This talk will describe how and why Du Bois remains such an important voice, despite being dead for over sixty years. It will explore the ways his life and words can help us find a way through our current moment of uncertainty and unrest. It will describe the work that is being done to promote and preserve his incredible legacy in places like Ghana, New York, Great Barrington, and right here at UMass Amherst.

The Speaker

Whitney Battle-Baptiste, is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst. A native of the Bronx, New York, Dr. Battle-Baptiste is an activist-scholar who sees the classroom and campus as a space to engage contemporary issues with a sensibility of the past. Her academic training is in Black study, history and historical archaeology. Her research critically engages the interconnectedness of race, gender, class, and sexuality through an archaeological lens. Her research sites include Andrew Jackson's Hermitage Plantation, the Abiel Smith School on Beacon Hill in Boston, the W. E. B. Du Bois Homesite (or House of the Black Burghardts) in Great Barrington, MA, and a community-based heritage site at Millars Plantation, on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera. Her books include, Black Feminist Archaeology (2011), and W. E. B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America (2018), co-edited with Britt Rusert. She is currently completing the second edition of Black Feminist Archaeology with Routledge and co-edited a volume on new directions in research about W. E. B. Du Bois with University of UMass Press.

Dr. Battle-Baptiste has served as the Chair of the Black Advisory Council at UMass Amherst, President of the American Anthropological Association (2023-2025), and the 2024/2025 Charles Norton Memorial Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America.

Location: W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Floor 22, Room 2220, W. E. B. Du Bois Center or Online