Du Bois Center plans ‘think tank’

GREAT BARRINGTON — More than 40 scholars will gather next Saturday, June 17, at the W.E.B. Du Bois Center of American History to participate in a daylong “think tank” discussion about the future direction and role of the center. Organized by founder Randy Weinstein  and Egremont resident Carl Kaestle, a professor at Brown University and a member of the center’s board of directors, attendees will include faculty from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Rutgers, Brown, the University of Massachusetts, Williams, Simon’s Rock College of Bard and Berkshire Community College.

Featured speakers will include educator Edmund Gordon and Pulitzer-prize winning Du Bois biographer David Levering Lewis.

Weinstein this past April held a public forum at the center, where community members shared their views about the role of the facility. The invited scholars will be gathering in Du Bois’ hometown to discuss the impact of his legacy on the center’s direction, both on a local level and beyond. The event is open to the public and will be videotaped for future broadcast on community television.