New Africa House

The W.E.B. Du Bois Department was established as a department by the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts in 1970. The Du Bois Department’s building, New Africa House, contains many stories. To the left of the main doors a red, black, and green art piece was mounted on the wall for decades. How did it get there? Who made it? What is its significance?

 

“The New Africa House” is a piece the mixed media painter and sculptor Joe Sam created. Sam is a world-renowned artist born and raised in Harlem, New York City, who earned a doctorate in education and psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, taught at Columbia University, and was director of the Head Start Program in San Francisco for over ten years. He gradually began to commit himself full time to art. His colorful work seeks to celebrate the warmth, fun and joy of children. He has completed a number of sculptures for facilities across the country including a public health center near Seattle, a senior citizens library in Florida, and an office complex in Santa Monica, CA.