W. E. B. Du Bois Biography
W. E. B. Du Bois (the pen name of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois) is primarily remembered today for two of his achievements: he was the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard (in 1895); and then, in 1903, he published The Souls of Black Folks. Part sociological study, part philosophical reflection on race, part moving and poetic autobiography, Souls introduced the idea of “double-consciousness,” which refers to the divided experience and vision of African-Americans. This concept, and others stemming from it, actively influence both popular and academic discussions of race in America today. Still taught regularly, The Souls of Black Folks is one of the most honest and profound discussions of race ever published.
Facts and Trivia
- Du Bois’s family background was complex and no doubt helped shape his perspective on race. His father was born in Haiti and had some French background; his great grandmother Elizabeth Freeman was a slave who sued to earn her freedom, an action that contributed to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts.
- Du Bois was one of the founders of the Niagara Movement, a civil rights group that eventually developed into the NAACP.
- Du Bois investigated many possible solutions to the race problem in America, including socialism. He was given the Lenin Peace Prize (a Soviet analogue to the Nobel Prize) in 1959 and joined the Communist Party two years later.
- In the 1950s, Du Bois was charged with being a foreign agent for his antiwar activities.
- Du Bois became a citizen of the West African nation of Ghana in 1963, when he was ninety-five years old.
Biography
W. E. B. Du Bois stands out as a towering figure in African American history and culture, known for his scholarly contributions and advocacy for civil rights. Born into a diverse heritage, he excelled academically and utilized his education to challenge the status quo and champion the rights of oppressed communities globally. His life journey, marked by groundbreaking achievements and profound dedication to justice, reveals an individual whose legacy continues to inspire.
Early Life and Education
Du Bois entered the world on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, a small town in western Massachusetts. His lineage was a tapestry of French Huguenot, Dutch, and African descent. The young Du Bois faced early challenges when his father, Alfred Du Bois, abandoned the family, leaving him in the care of his mother, Mary Sylvina Burghardt Du Bois. Following her death in 1884, Du Bois was left in financial straits and moved in with an aunt, securing a job as a timekeeper at a local mill to make ends meet. That year, he became the sole black graduate in his high school class. Recognizing his potential, his principal encouraged him to pursue higher education, and he secured a scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1888. His academic journey continued at Harvard University, from which he graduated cum laude with a second Bachelor of Arts degree in 1891. Du Bois expanded his horizons with two years of study at the University of Berlin before returning to Harvard, culminating in a Ph.D. in 1895—the first African American to achieve this distinction.
Academic and Early Professional Career
Between 1895 and 1897, Du Bois embarked on an academic career, teaching languages and literature at Wilberforce University in Ohio. It was during this time that his influential dissertation, "The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870," was published as the inaugural volume in the Harvard Historical Studies series. 1896 marked a personal milestone as he married Nina Gomer, a student at Wilberforce, and they had two children. In 1897, Du Bois transitioned to Atlanta University, where he taught economics and history for over a decade. Here, he penned his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, in 1903, which remains a cornerstone of African American literature.
Publishing and the Niagara Movement
In 1905, Du Bois was driven by a vision to create a publication that catered to the intellectual African American community. This aligned with his conviction that higher education for the most promising black individuals would cultivate leaders capable of uplifting their race. By 1906, he had established a printing press in Memphis, Tennessee, which produced the Moon Illustrated Weekly. The following year, Du Bois launched the Horizon magazine in Washington, D.C., initially intended as the mouthpiece for the Niagara Movement—a group of black intellectuals he founded in 1905. Although the Horizon did not become the movement's official publication, it continued until 1910, when Du Bois merged the Niagara Movement with the newly formed NAACP. That same year, he left his academic post at Atlanta University, became the NAACP's director of publications and research, and inaugurated Crisis magazine, which he edited for nearly 25 years. Crisis served as a powerful platform to highlight the issues confronting black Americans and other oppressed people worldwide.
Advocacy and the Pan-African Congress
Du Bois's international focus sharpened after World War I, particularly regarding Africa, where he championed the continent's liberation from colonial rule. In 1919, he played a key role in organizing the second Pan-African Congress in Paris. This gathering built upon a previous meeting in...
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London in 1900, advocating for African self-determination and the establishment of an international African state from former German colonies.Crisis magazine, now with a global readership, became instrumental in disseminating his "Africa for the Africans" message, documenting subsequent Pan-African congresses in 1921, 1923, and 1927.
Later Years: Writing and Controversy
Between 1934 and 1940, Du Bois dedicated himself to teaching, research, and writing, further solidifying his reputation as a leading intellectual. During this period, he published two significant historical works: Black Reconstruction: An Essay toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880 (1935), and Black Folk, Then and Now: An Essay in the History and Sociology of the Negro Race (1939). He also contributed to prominent periodicals like Current History and Foreign Affairs. Despite his success, Du Bois longed for an academic publication dedicated to racial issues, which culminated in the founding of Phylon at Atlanta University in 1940, where he served as editor-in-chief until his retirement in 1944.
Political Shifts and Final Years
After rejoining the NAACP in 1944 as director of special research, Du Bois's tenure ended in 1948 due to political disputes. His influence and leadership waned as leading publishers distanced themselves from him, largely because of his unapologetic support for Soviet Communism. This political stance, solidified by his 1926 visit to the Soviet Union, was evident when he declared in Crisis, "I may be partially deceived and half-informed. But if what I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears in Russia is Bolshevism, I am Bolshevik." In 1948, Du Bois also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate on the American Labor Party ticket.
Personal Life and Legacy
Following the death of his first wife in 1950, Du Bois married Shirley Lola Graham in 1951. At eighty-three, he faced indictment by the U.S. Justice Department as an "agent for a foreign power," though he was acquitted. His disillusionment with American democracy deepened, leading him to join the Communist Party in 1961 and relocate to Accra, Ghana. There, he renounced his American citizenship, adopting Ghana as his new home. Before his death on August 27, 1963, in Accra, he embarked on "The Encyclopedia of Africana," a project left unfinished. Du Bois's enduring legacy is one of relentless pursuit of knowledge and justice, inspiring generations to continue the struggle for equality.