2025 Du Bois Forum & Statue Unveiling: Celebrated Gathering of Writers, Scholars, & Artists Returns to the Berkshires

The Du Bois Forum is pleased to announce its fourth annual gathering, set to take place July 18-20, 2025.

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA, UNITED STATES, June 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Du Bois Forum, an annual retreat and year-round fellowship dedicated to the Black intellectual and artistic traditions inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, will host its fourth annual gathering from July 18-20, 2025, across multiple historic sites in the Berkshires. Sponsored by Tufts University, the Forum has been supported by partnerships with Great Barrington’s Du Bois Freedom Center (the first museum dedicated to Du Bois’s life and legacy in North America) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as Jacob’s Pillow, the NAACP of Berkshire County, Kripalu, Harvard, Yale, Williams College, Amherst College, Boston University, and Johns Hopkins University. This year’s forum coincides with a major milestone in Great Barrington: the unveiling of the first statue of W.E.B. Du Bois in his hometown, just steps from his birthplace along the Housatonic River.

Founded in 2021 by Tufts historians and Du Bois’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Levering Lewis, the Du Bois Forum has evolved from a summer retreat into a robust national fellowship. The program now includes year-round gatherings, writing retreats, and professional development workshops in partnership with institutions such as the Boston Athenaeum and Kripalu. The forum has been featured in venues such as Forbes and The Boston Globe.

Held at Jacob’s Pillow and Troutbeck—the estate where W.E.B. Du Bois and Joel Spingarn convened fellow thinkers and leaders in 1916 and 1933—this year’s Forum will draw together over 50 fellows. Among the 2025 cohort are leading historians, writers, filmmakers, and thought leaders.

The Forum weekend begins on Friday, July 18, with the fourth annual Du Bois Forum Roundtable & Celebration at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, MA. The roundtable (4:00-5:00 pm) will include a panel of historians and forum fellows—Secretary Lonnie Bunch, Dr. Thavolia Glymph (Duke), Dr. Brandon Terry (Harvard), Dr. Nathan Connolly (Hopkins), and Dr. Elizabeth Hinton (Yale)—as well as book signings by featured authors, and recognition of partner organizations. A performance by the acclaimed Red Clay Dance Company follows at 5:30 pm on the Henry J. Leir Stage. The evening concludes with a Du Bois-inspired dinner under the stars (7:00-9:30 pm), designed by James Beard Award-winning chef Bryant Terry, with musical selections by Candice Hoyes. The evening also features the Forum’s 2025 awards ceremony, where Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and his wife Diane Patrick, and Imari Paris Jeffries, Executive Director of Embrace Boston, will be honored for their contributions to African American history and heritage work locally, regionally, and nationally. The performance and dinner are ticketed events.

On Saturday, July 19, the Forum moves to Great Barrington for a tour titled “W.E.B. Du Bois and the Black Berkshires” (12:30-3:00 pm), a free and public event. Stops include James Weldon Johnson’s writing cabin, the historic Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church (now home to the Du Bois Freedom Center), and culminate in the 2:00 pm unveiling of a statue of W.E.B. Du Bois, crafted by sculptor Richard Blake, made possible by the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project, at Great Barrington’s Mason Library. Remarks will be delivered by Deval Patrick and Forum Co-founder David Levering Lewis.

The weekend concludes on Sunday, July 20, with a panel discussion at Chesterwood in Stockbridge from 1:00-2:00 pm. Titled “W.E.B. Du Bois: Scholar, Artist, and Architect of the Civil Rights Movement,” the panel will feature Richard Blake, artist Delano Burrowes, National Sculpture Society Executive Director Gwen Pier, and Forum Fellows Dr. Chad Williams and Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed. This event is free and open to the public.

Inspired by Du Bois’s vision, the Forum continues to offer a national platform for emerging and established voices. Its year-round programming includes seasonal gatherings, writing retreats, and professional development workshops. The Forum is helping to shape the next chapter in the legacy of Du Bois, bringing together writers, scholars, and artists to reflect and create in community.

MEDIA CONTACT
For further details about the weekend’s events, including ticketing information and itinerary, please contact: duboisforum@tufts.edu.

For press inquiries, please contact publicist Nanda Dyssou of Coriolis Company.

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