The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture is a national historic monument of Ghana, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture.  The final resting place of W.E.B. and Shirley Graham Du Bois, this major West African tourist site houses the mausoleum, personal library, and museum of the Du Boises’ rich lives as influential American and Pan-African thinkers and activists. 

 

The Centre was created, in 1985, as a research institution for Pan-African history and culture, and as a crucible for African/Diasporan creativity and promotion of the social, political, cultural, and intellectual legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois himself.  Our research library resources, seminar room, exhibit gallery, and amphitheatre accommodate a diverse program of lectures, seminars, meetings, exhibitions, and artistic performances, patronized by the Ghanaian and international public.  In addition, the compound which composes the Centre includes the Marcus Garvey Guest House, a restaurant, office/studio space for resident artist groups, as well as the headquarters of the African American Association of Ghana and the Diaspora African Forum.  

A new building, housing a museum, library with media resources, and conference room, is expected to open soon, augmenting the Centre’s potential for fulfilling its mission.  A bookshop is planned for the near future, supported by contributions from several groups from the Diasporan constituency.

In addition to receiving hundreds of tourists to the Museum and Mausoleum, the Centre’s annual Du Bois-Padmore-Nkrumah lecture series brings illustrious speakers from Africa and the Diaspora.  Periodic exhibitions and performances by affiliated artists contribute to on-going program content; the regular meetings of the Ghana Bead Society exemplify the community-cultural function that is a central component of our mission.

Our programs with Senior Secondary School groups, largely, but not exclusively, through Pan-African Clubs, are valued extra-curricular experiences.  Particularly in 2007, the year of Ghana’s 50th Anniversary, partnerships with African embassies in Ghana, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, the Ghana @50 Secretariat, Goethe Institut, British Council, U.S. Embassy, as well as partners at U.S. universities have supported the Du Bois Centre’s involvement in the year-long celebrations.