The Berkshires Region of Massachusetts is a historically rich area. Early stirrings of the American Revolution were found here with the 1773 Sheffield Declaration, the town's own “Declaration of Independence”. In Salisbury, furnaces and workers provided the materials for weapons used in the fight for independence; and many dispossessed farmers joined in Shay’s Rebellion, eventually influencing the U.S. Constitution.

Yet less well known, nationally and even locally, is the important and long history of African Americans who, through their lives and actions, fought to define and expand the notions of freedom and democracy. Here in rural Western Massachusetts, African Americans significantly contributed to the building of the state and nation. Dozens of African Americans from this area fought for U.S. independence, with some even gaining their freedom in the process. A woman, Elizabeth “Mum Bett” Freeman, was the first slave in Massachusetts to gain freedom in court. Her court case contributed to the eventual defeat of slavery in the Bay State. The region was also active in the Underground Railroad, providing safe haven to escaping slaves. During the Civil War, more African Americans from this region fought in the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (depicted in the film Glory) than from anywhere else in the state.

Here too, in the town of Great Barrington, the world famous activist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois was born. Du Bois was a descendent of a long line of free, land owning African Americans dating back to the late 1700’s, who helped shape the area they called home. For the first few years of his life, Du Bois lived with his extended family upon the Egremont Plain. The memory of this homesite would stay with Du Bois, leading to a lifelong desire to keep the land within the family.

In the twentieth century, the Berkshires were a home and retreat for many influential African Americans. Among them were the poet and activist James Weldon Johnson; the Harlem Renaissance photographer James VanDerZee; the performer and activist Paul Robeson and, of course, W.E.B. Du Bois.

James Weldon Johnson

Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois

While many of their stories are not well known, the contributions of these Africans Americans are a vital part of America. Through the untiring efforts of scholars, activists and community leaders who, for nearly a half-century, have fought to preserve and commemorate the Du Bois Homesite, we can begin to weave at least part of these histories into the broad fabric of the American experience.