By Oyiza Adaba | Africa-Related New York

And Beatrice Arthur | Ghana

The great African-American Scholar, Civil Rights Activist and father of Pan-Africanism who influenced the likes of Ghana’s first Prime Minister/President Kwame Nkrumah, envisioned Ghana to be his final resting place.

This symbolic and historic gesture gave birth to the W.E.B du Bois Centre in Accra, where the remains of the Man, his beloved wife Shirley and the vast collection of his books and personal items have been, since his death on August 27, 1963. He had spent a good part of 1961-1963 in Ghana curating the contributions of Africans to global development in the five-volume Encyclopedia Africana. Du Bois was interred in a state funeral outside Christiansborg Castle in Osu, formerly a holding pen for the slave cargoes bound for the Americas.

“I had planned an "Encyclopedia Africana" in 1909 but my leaving Atlanta for New York postponed this project and the World War prevented its renewal. In 1934 I was chosen to act as editor-in-chief of a new project of the Phelps-Stokes Fund to prepare and publish an Encyclopedia of the Negro. I spent nearly ten years of intermittent effort on this project and secured cooperation from many scholars, white and black, in America, Europe and Africa. But the necessary funds could not be secured. Perhaps again it was too soon to expect large aid for so ambitious a project directed by Negroes and built mainly on Negro scholarship. Nevertheless, a preliminary volume summarizing this effort was published in 1945. (p.302)
- W. E. B DU Bois 1968 Autobiography

In recent times however, that vision has weathered the storms of indifference and neglect, giving room for a new vision by the management of the W.E.B Du Bois Museum Foundation. Headquartered in New York and under the leadership of Japhet Aryiku, the Foundation stresses that the redesign and expansion project aims to re-establish a cultural destination for academics, the diaspora, and the local Ghanaian community that honors the momentous work of its namesake.

On the 59th anniversary of his death, this milestone unveiling was witnessed by du Bois’ great grandson Jefrey Peck, and made possible through a partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism Arts & Culture.

Museum unveiling ceremony, Accra Ghana

The Museum Complex has Sir David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates as the design Architects. The project is expected to be completed in 2024 with public support and donations. See how you can support below.