ACCRA, Ghana – I have been a W.E. B. DuBois fanatic since learning as a student at Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. that he actively opposed the accommodationist views of Booker T. Washington. I was even more elated when I discovered that DuBois and I shared the same birthday – February 23.

Naturally, I was excited when I found out that during last week’s trip to Ghana, I would get a chance to visit the W. E. B. DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture, which encompasses the grave and former home of my intellectual hero. Before the visit, Jesse Jackson hard urged me to brace myself for what I would see; he predicted that I would be disappointed with the condition of the memorial to DuBois.

He was correct. Even with lowered expectations, I was shocked at how much his former residence had been allowed to deteriorate. The front of the compound has dirt rather than grass, The long, one-story house resembles a section of Army barracks more than a dwelling, And the tin roof and dangling outside wiring do nothing to improve the esthetics.

A small, golden bust of DuBois rests atop a marble pedestal that stands about five feet tall. A plaque below bares the sparse inscription: “William Edward B. DuBois 1868-1963.” That’s all it says. Nowhere is there a clue of what he did between 1968 and 1963.

It doesn’t say that he was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, it doesn’t say he was the father of Pan-Africanism, it doesn’t say he received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1895, it doesn’t say his Philadelphia Negro was the first scientific study of African-Americans, it doesn’t say that his Souls of Black Folk is still applicable today, it doesn’t say that he was an uncompromising editor of The Crisis magazine and it doesn’t say his own U.S. government harassed him for his uncompromising views. No, all it says is, “William Edward B. DuBois 1868-1963.” I’ve read widely and I’ve never seen his name written that way. Usually, it’s either W.E. B. DuBois or William Edward Burghardt DuBois.

DuBois had been invited to spend his final years in Ghana by Kwame Nkrumah, the nation’s first president. As the father of Pan-Africanism and Nkrumah’s mentor, it was only fitting that DuBois would be buried in the Motherland. It is not fitting that the grounds that he once walked are an embarrassing testament to him.

The inside of his former home, the center of the compound’s activities, is equally unimpressive. DuBois, a native of Great Barrington, Mass., donated his papers to the University of Massachusetts. There are only a few mementos housed here. Various academic gowns are on display in one room, including the one he wore months before his death when he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ghana.

There are also robes from Fisk University, his undergraduate alma mater; Clark Atlanta University (DuBois conducted pioneering research on African-Americans at Atlanta University) and Harvard. There are some other valuable items in this room, including a signed copy of a book from Albert Einstein and original copies of the Crisis magazine, the feisty forerunner of Encore and Emerge magazines.

DuBois’ study, filled with two walls of his books, does not have climate control or on this day, air conditioning. The main hall, just outside DuBois’ office, features a nondescript wall that carries a large photo of DuBois, two smaller ones of Nkrumah, and two sheets of paper. They are hung against a long piece of Kente cloth under the heading, “The Influence of Pan-Africanism on Nkrumah and Ghana’s Independence.”

Outside, less than 30 yards from the main building, is a mausoleum that houses DuBois and the ashes of his wife, Shirley. Shaped like a gazebo, the wood-paneled room has several African stools. DuBois is entombed under a granite rectangle slab that slopes at the lower end of the body. Visitors have left flowers, notes and a banner from Clark Atlanta University stretches across the top.

Anne V. Adams, a former associate professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., is the center’s program director. Still shaken by the conditions, Jesse Jackson agreed to buy a badly-needed generator and help raise additional funds; several of us made financial pledges and contributions. Jackson criticized both the Ghanaian government and Blacks for not doing more to preserve the center. (Contributions can be sent to the center at P.O. Box CT 975, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana. Her e-mail address is ava@webdubois-gh.org.)

Considering all that DuBois has done for us, the least we can do is properly preserve his memory.