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Start Over Creator Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963

W.E.B. Du Bois Address at the Conference on the Encyclopaedia Africana, 1962 .03 Cubic Feet 1 folder (letter)

Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963

This collection contains a mimeographed typescript of W.E.B. Du Bois's opening address at the Conference of the Encyclopedia of Africa held at the University of Ghana in Accra in 1962. Du Bois dreamed of editing an 'Encyclopedia Africana'. He envisioned a comprehensive compendium of 'scientific' knowledge about the history, culture, and social institutions of people of African descent. He argues for his project of an Encyclopedia Africana based in Africa and compiled by Africans. He notes that it is long overdue but that "such a work had to wait for independent Africans to carry it out." He acknowledges the excellence of the Presence Africaine (founded in 1947), which "has already brought to light much material written in the French language," and sees the project as a "living effort which will grow and change -- which will expand through the years as more and more material is gathered from all parts of Africa." Furthermore, he hopes that the project would dispense with divisive colonial distinctions such as "British," "French," "Black," or "Islamic" Africa and consider the continent as a whole.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

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