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Arts & Entertainment

W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project Announces Grants

AWARDED $15,000 BY ADAMS COMMUNITY BANK

The W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has received a donation of $15,000 from the Adams Community Bank of Adams, MA. The funds will be used to finance a monument to W.E.B. Du Bois, a native son of Great Barrington, and to renovate the plaza in front of Mason Public Library, where the statue will be sited.

“The Adams Community Bank will be opening a branch in Great Barrington this summer,” said bank president Charles O’Brien, “and we believe this is an excellent way to support our new friends.”

The Adams Community Bank donation joins a $10,000 grant from Berkshire Bank and a $10,000 donation from The Whitehead Foundation to bring our totals to $175,000,” said Julie Michaels, co-chair of The W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project.

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The group will introduce the three finalists for the sculpture commission on April 19, 2023, at an evening reception at the Mason Library.

Donations to the Du Bois Sculpture Project can be made online at www.webduboissculpture.org or mailed to W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project, P.O. Box 155, Great Barrington, MA 01230.

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About the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project

The W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project was launched in May 2022 by a volunteer group of local citizens with the goal of recognizing Du Bois’ scholarly achievements in the fight for racial equality. The Project celebrates Great Barrington, a town whose long abolitionist history and powerful commitment to public education helped shape the person Du Bois became. The Sculpture Project is endorsed and supported by town officials including the Great Barrington Select Board, the Great Barrington Library Trustees, W.E.B. Du Bois Town Legacy Committee, among many others.

About W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was born and educated in Great Barrington. He was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. A world-famous sociologist, historian, and founder of the NAACP, he wrote The Souls of Black Folk, a seminal work in African American literature.

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