{"nrhp_refnum":"76000947","name":"Du Bois, William E.B., Boyhood Homesite","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"MA 23","address_restricted":false,"city":"Great Barrington","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.17791447950003,"lon":-73.39413870237624,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-11","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1976-05-11","areas_of_significance":["Black","Literature","Education","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-acre site on the north side of Route 23, about two miles west of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where the Burghardt family home, W. E. B. Du Bois's boyhood residence, once stood. Only the foundation, chimney and cellar hole remain.","why_significant":"The site is tied to W. E. B. Du Bois, a leading scholar and civil rights figure who spent his first seventeen years on his grandfather's farm here. He co-founded the Niagara Movement and the NAACP, edited The Crisis, and promoted Pan-Africanism. Friends bought the property for him, and he owned it from 1928 to 1954.","narrative":"This five-acre site on Route 23, about two miles west of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, marks the place where the Burghardt family home once stood. W. E. B. Du Bois grew up here on his grandfather's farm and spent his first seventeen years in the house. Today the remains are the foundation with its original flooring, a rubblestone chimney with hearthstone, and a cellar hole. A grassy field backed by pine, elm and maple trees forms a natural amphitheater. Du Bois became one of the most influential thinkers of his era. He earned a Harvard doctorate, helped found the Niagara Movement and the NAACP, edited The Crisis, and organized Pan-African Congresses. His friends purchased the property, and he owned it from 1928 to 1954, using it as a quiet retreat. The site was recognized for its link to his early life and his role in the struggle for Black equality.","period_of_significance":"1868-1963; 1868-1885","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Only ruins of the original Burghardt house remain: the foundation with original flooring, a rubblestone chimney with hearthstone, and the cellar hole. The property is marked unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.263042-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/7936/63793639/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000947_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000947/373d9e073a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000947/373d9e073a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WEB_DuBois_Boyhood_Home_site,_Great_Barrington,_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WEB_DuBois_Boyhood_Home_site,_Great_Barrington,_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793639","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois_Boyhood_Homesite","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7945186"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/du-bois-william-e-b-boyhood-homesite-76000947/"}