W.E.B. Du Bois was an African American man born on February 23, 1868 in Massachusetts. He went on to achieve much in his lifetime. He was a prolific writer, scholar and activist. 

Du Bois first earned his bachelor's degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Afterwards he attended Harvard, where he earned his master's and went on to become the first African American man to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard.

Du Bois embarked on his writing career with The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, the first case study of an African American community in the U.S. He also wrote papers on the lives of black farmers and businessmen. This established his reputation as a scholar of black communities and lives in America. 

During his time teaching Sociology in Atlanta, Du Bois spoke out publicly against Booker T. Washington and his ideas that black people should value vocational education over trying to achieve a higher education. 

Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk, Dusk of Dawn, and Black Reconstruction in America, as well as many other works throughout his life. Du Bois also help cofound the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he served as the director of research and the editor. 

These are only some of his many achievements.