The construction of the UMass Amherst building we now know as the W.E.B. Dubois library was officially completed in 1974. Known then simply as “The Library Tower,” the Guinness Book of World Records dubbed the building as the tallest library in the world.

        In 1994, the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts voted to rename the library in honor of W.E.B. Du Bois whose works were housed in the Special Collections and Archives. The Board of Trustees reportedly decided that the time was right to break color barriers in honoring Du Bois. Citing his vast collection of heroic, inspirational, and powerful work, as well as Du Bois’ local origins, the former Tower Library was dedicated in 1996 as the W.E.B Du Bois library.

         To commemorate the dedication, students and teachers held an event meant to celebrate the life of Du Bois. This event featured teach-ins, readings from Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, a lecture by a renowned W.E.B. DU Bois scholar, and a special dedication ceremony in the Special Collections and Archives section.

        There was minor controversy on the UMass campus over this choice of dedication. A small number of faculty and staff protested the choice of W.E.B. Du Bois as anti-American. This attitude stems from Du Bois’ publicly joining the Communist Party in 1961. This was coupled with the erroneous belief that Du Bois renounced his American citizenship in moving to Ghana at the age of 93 where he later died a dual citizen of each country (To read NY Times Obituary). Protests aside, the library now stands as the tallest library in America and as a testament to the incredible mind, powerful life, and heroic contributions of W.E.B. Du Bois.

Sources:

Duboisopedia http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/duboisopedia/doku.php?id=about:w.e.b._du_bois_library

YouMass Wiki http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/youmass/doku.php?id=buildings:d:duboislibrary

W.E.B. DuBois Library Archives http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/dubois/?page_id=859.

“We claim the right of freemen to walk, talk, and be with them that wish to be with us. No man has a right to choose another man's friends, and to attempt to do so is an impudent interference with the most fundamental human privilege.”

~ W.E.B. Du Bois,

The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois:

A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century.

[click here] To read the Niagara Movement Address.

Entire text about the formation of the Niagara Movement, along with the entire address begins on page 249 of Dr. Du Bois' The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy...

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