Du Bois Freedom Center (Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church) – Great Barrington, MA
The Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church is located on the west side of Elm Court in the downtown section of Great Barrington. It is historically and architecturally significant for its association with the religious and cultural heritage of African Americans in Berkshire County and as a distinctive example of late-19th-century vernacular church architecture in the region.
Though it was not the first African-American church to be built in Berkshire County, the Shingle Style Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, which opened its doors in 1886, has been the most enduring of all black churches in Berkshire County. Associated with post-Civil War migrants from the South and the large northern-born kin network of which W.E.B. Du Bois, a Great Barrington native, was part, Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church managed to sustain itself amid an always small African American population.
As is true of many African American churches in the North, this church served not only as a religious center but also as a cultural, political, and charitable institution for local African Americans.
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