The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture, located in the Cantonments area of Accra, Ghana, stands as a memorial, research facility, and tourist attraction. Opened to the public in 1985, it is dedicated to the life and work of W.E.B. Du Bois, an influential African-American historian and pan-Africanist.
W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre in Accra, Ghana
Du Bois's Connection to Ghana
Du Bois became a citizen of Ghana in the early 1960s, at the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah. He spent his last few years in Ghana, working on the Encyclopedia Africana. His final home, a modest bungalow in Accra, remains a testament to his life and legacy.
B.S. Ato Keelson, the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Center in Accra, emphasizes Du Bois's significant role in the pan-African movement in Africa. Keelson notes that Du Bois's meeting with Nkrumah at the 1945 Pan-African Congress ignited a vision to liberate Africa. Their collaboration led to numerous pan-African initiatives, solidifying Du Bois's influence not only in Ghana but across the continent.
Nkrumah invited Du Bois to Ghana in 1961 and granted him Ghanaian citizenship. Nkrumah believed that Ghana's independence was incomplete without the total liberation of the African continent, and he sought Du Bois's help to advance this agenda.
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Du Bois was a major influence on Nkrumah, especially after they met at the 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England. In 1947, Nkrumah led Ghana to break free from Britain’s colonial rule, making it the first African country to win independence.
“For us in Ghana, we see Du Bois as somebody who blazed the pan-African scene in Africa,” said Keelson. “He didn’t stay that long but even in that short time he was very influential for us, not only in Ghana but all of Africa.”
The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre
The Du Bois Centre is located at No. 22 First Circular Road, in Cantonments, Accra, Ghana, the former residence of W. E. B. Du Bois. The Centre houses a small museum with part of Du Bois's personal library and a collection of his works, which are made available to researchers.
The museum features hundreds of books Du Bois brought with him to Ghana. Their titles reflect his eclectic background: British Slavery and the Abolition, The Mark of the Oppressor, Into China, Time in New England, History of the Jews in the United States and American Novels and Stories of Henry James.
Inside the building, paintings of Du Bois and Kwame Nkrumah hang on the walls, and the ceiling is decorated to resemble a spider's web.
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The tombs of Du Bois and his second wife, Shirley, sit next to his former home, which is today a tiny, modest museum at the W.E.B.
Exploring the Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Tour of the Du Bois Centre in Ghana
Preserving the Legacy
In 1985, some Pan-Africanists in Ghana realized when diasporan Africans come to Ghana they can’t see the tomb of Du Bois. The body was re-interred in a specially designed tomb in front of his house.
In 2023, the Ghanaian government announced a long-term agreement with the W. E. B. Du Bois Museum Foundation to develop, rebrand, operate and manage the Centre into a major new educational complex to preserve and continue Du Bois' legacy.
In 2024, the Mellon Foundation announced a US $5 million grant to provide leadership funds for four years in Phase 1 of the new complex's development.
The memorial site and compound will function as a campus of remembrance, reflection and learning that speaks to the life and legacy of Du Bois.
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Adjaye Associates redesign of the W.E.B Du Bois Centre aims to provide a world-class destination for academics, the diaspora, and the local Ghanaian community that honors the momentous work of its namesake. Located in the Cantonments neighborhood of Accra, the memorial site and compound will function as a campus of remembrance, reflection and learning that speaks to the life and legacy of Du Bois.
Rendering of proposed W. E. B. Du Bois Museum Complex
The current burial place of Dr. Du Bois and the ashes of Shirley Graham Du Bois.
Any visitor to the bungalow where Dr. Du Bois lived with his wife, worked, and died would notice the deterioration of the building, both the outside and the inside. Over the many years since he died in 1963, in the absence of a climate-controlled environment, all the books and papers have been seriously damaged. Dr. Du Bois brought with him to Ghana a number of academic regalia and other fabrics, and he collected an additional piece during his short stay in Ghana. These items are now in very poor condition.
The Centre houses a small museum with part of Du Bois's personal library and a collection of his works, which are made available to researchers.
