In 1916 and again in 1933, W.E.B. Du Bois and Joel Elias Spingarn gathered thinkers and leaders in Amenia, New York at the Troutbeck estate. Later called the Amenia Conferences, the gatherings were not a means to an end. The purpose wasn’t to produce books or treatises. Instead, these meetings of the mind were intentional havens where intellectuals could be inspired by one another through conversation, debate, and proximity to the movers and shakers of the time.
While both Spingarn and Du Bois were both civil rights activists, educators, leaders and scholars, Du Bois’ legacy in the Berkshires is a constant source of inspiration for scholars in the area. This was the case in 2021, when long after his death, Tufts historians Dr. Kendra Taira Field, Dr. Kerri Greenidge, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author David Levering Lewis (who literally wrote the book on Du Bois) founded the Du Bois Forum, a retreat for artists, writers, and other academics, to uplift each other’s work, connect with DuBois’ legacy, and engage in intellectual and artistic discourse.
“In the beginning, it was very much a labor of love,” said co-founder Kendra Field. The forum was a simple gathering of academics, writers and artists engaging in the tradition of Black intellectualism forged by thinkers like Du Bois. But today, it’s an expansive weekend exploring the footsteps of Du Bois in the Berkshires.
