W.E.B. Du Bois Freedom Center names John D. Lloyd as executive director
September 19, 2026
GREAT BARRINGTON — The W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Freedom & Democracy has named John D. Lloyd as its permanent executive director, following his tenure as interim executive director since 2024.
During Lloyd's tenure, the center has expanded its programming, partnerships and fundraising while continuing restoration work at the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, a National Register-listed historic site, where W.E.B. Du Bois was born and raised.
The center has expanded its programming and partnerships to highlight African American history, culture and life throughout the Berkshires.
This past season, it co-presented programs with more than a dozen partner institutions, including Williams College, Boston University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, The Mount, Norman Rockwell Museum and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
The season included “Elizabeth Freeman: Reimagined,” an exhibition developed with MassArt that led to a permanent storytelling kiosk on the Great Barrington Town Hall Green honoring Freeman's legacy.
Under Lloyd's leadership, new capital grants have been secured from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the town’s Community Preservation Fund, the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place Program, among others.
The funds will support rehabilitation of the church's basement creating a code-compliant lower level that will eventually house the center's main entrance, visitor center, exhibits, community meeting room and kitchen.
Lloyd also expanded the board with four new members:Justin F. Jackson (UMass Amherst), Camesha Scruggs (Central Connecticut State University), Angela T. Tate (Museum of African American History in Boston), and Whitney Battle-Baptiste (Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst).
"It is the honor of my career to lead the Du Bois Freedom Center into its next chapter," said John D. Lloyd, Executive Director. "W.E.B. Du Bois taught us that education, historical truth, and civic participation are inseparable from a healthy democracy, and every day, within the community where he was born and raised, we get to put that idea into practice. I'm grateful to our Board, to our partners across the Berkshires, and above all to this community for making that growth possible. There is more work ahead, restoring this church, deepening our educational outreach, and making sure Du Bois' legacy stays accessible to every generation. I couldn't be more energized to lead that work in a permanent capacity."
