The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) was honored to host a visit from Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation (WEBDBMF), a nonprofit dedicated to honoring the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois through the redevelopment of the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan-African Culture in Accra, Ghana.
Aryiku was joined by colleagues from the Foundation for a visit that brought together CRL Board Secretary Devin Savage, Dean of the Library at Lake Forest College and Chair of CRL's Collections and Services Committee; Chenjerai Mabhiza, African Studies Librarian at Michigan State University and Chair of CRL's African Studies Collections Committee; Richard Joseph, Professor Emeritus in Political Science at Northwestern University; and key member's of CRL leadership.
The group toured CRL's collections and spent time articulating the future of the Centre in Accra, including plans underway to restore the bungalow where Du Bois lived with his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, from 1961 to 1963, alongside the development of a new museum and library complex to house his papers and legacy. Shared conversation highlighted how the Foundation's work to establish the Centre as a destination for scholars, artists, and heritage tourists intersects with CRL's own mission of preserving and providing access to research materials and brought together voices from across CRL's network through board leadership, subject specialists, and academic partners.
We're grateful to Japhet and the WEBDBMF team for making the trip, and to Devin, Chenjerai, and Richard for lending their time and expertise. We look forward to seeing where this collaboration leads.
Learn more about WEBDBMF: https://webdbmf.org/