Du Bois had deep roots in Great Barrington, where his maternal family, the Burghardts, had lived since the early 1800s. Baby Burghardt was born in Great Barrington in 1897. Soon after, Du Bois relocated his family to Atlanta, Georgia to accept a faculty position at Atlanta University. The move was traumatic for them all, but especially for his wife, Nina, who grew up in Ohio and had never experienced the explicit racism of the deep South. She was happiest when devoted to the care of their infant son, Burghardt. When baby Burghardt fell ill, Du Bois sought out one of the few African American doctors in the city to care for his son to no avail, and with no white physicians willing to treat a Black child, his son went without medical treatment. After being ill for ten days, Burghardt died of diphtheria on May 24, 1899 at the age of 19 months. Soon after his death, Burghardt Gomer Du Bois was brought home to Great Barrington where he was buried in the Mahaiwe Cemetery - a testament to how Du Bois believed Great Barrington was a safe place and home for his family. Du Bois buried his wife Nina there, next to Burghardt, in 1950, and daughter Yolande was buried there in 1961. Du Bois paid tribute to Burghardt in The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903, in a chapter entitled “The Passing of the First Born.” In this soliloquy to his son, Du Bois’ emotional turmoil and feelings towards Georgia are voiced:
“I held him in my arms, after we sped far away from our Southern home,—held him, and glanced at the hot red soil of Georgia and the breathless city of a hundred hills, and felt a vague unrest.”
The Souls of Black Folk - Du Bois
“I held him in my arms, after we sped far away from our Southern home,—held him, and glanced at the hot red soil of Georgia and the breathless city of a hundred hills, and felt a vague unrest.”
The Souls of Black Folk - Du Bois