The history of the American Negro
is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious
manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.
In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost.
He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the
world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood
of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for
the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be
both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his
fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his
face.
-- W. E. B. Du
Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
Biography-Criticism
W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868 in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts. His father left him and his mother when he was a
child; he was raised by his single mother.
His first experience with the “veil” of which he
refers to in The Souls of Black Folk occurred in elementary school. A
white classmate of his would not accept a card which he intended for
her. It was because he was black. The veil was discovered.
In 1885 Du Bois attended Fisk University, an all
black college founded for the sons and daughters of emancipated slaves.
In 1892 he went to The University of Berlin. He
then earned a doctoral degree at Harvard University.
He became interested in the study of sociology and
was asked to do a major study at The University of Pennsylvania in
1896. He also married his first wife, Nina Gomer, during this
year. It was during this time he began to shift his political
views from conservative to radical.
From 1897 to 1910 Du Bois worked at Atlanta
University. He wrote 18 monographs during this time and began
working in his famous “sociological laboratory”. Souls of
Black Folk was published during this time, in 1903.
Du Bois opposed the accomodationist philosophy of
Booker T. Washington. He was one of the founders of the all black
‘Niagra Movement’ in 1903. They stood for voting rights, higher
education, freedom of speech, and first class citizenship for African
Americans. The Niagra Movement eventually evolved into the
integrated NAACP.
In 1908 a race riot in Springfield, Illinois
spurred the creation of the NAACP. Du Bois was one of the leaders
of this group. He was made editor of Crisis magazine, the NAACP's
house organ. His voice was spreading far and wide.
In 1914 Du Bois spoke out to American blacks to
support the U.S. in the World War I. He changed his tune quickly,
however, when he saw how the black soldiers were treated.
He took the opposite stance at that point.
During The Depression and for years thereafter, Du
Bois became more politically renown. He chaired the sociology
department at Atlanta University, continued to publish essays, deliver
speeches, and explore the fight for black freedom from white oppression
in America.
By 1951, Du Bois became involved with the
Communist Party. He was indicted as an “agent of foreign
principle”. He was later acquitted.
When Du Bois died at the age of 93 in Africa, he
was a member of the communist party and a citizen of Ghana.
Du Bois was a major figure in U.S. History.
Because of his fervent passion for racial justice, we still read and
learn from his teachings that began over a century ago.
Selected Bibliography
Works by the Author
The Quest of the Silver Fleece
Dark Princess: A Romance
The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the
United States of America
The Conservation of Races
The Philadelphia Negro: A Special Study
The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches
Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil
Dusk of Dawn: An Essay toward an Autobiography of
a Race Concept
Works about the Author
Bremen, Brian A. “Du Bois, Emerson, and the ‘Fate’ of Black Folk.”
American Literary Realism 24.3 (1992): 80-88.
Cain, William E. “From Liberalism to Communism:
The Political Thought of W. E. B. Du Bois.” Cultures of United States
Imperialism. Ed. Amy E. Kaplan and Donald E. Pease. Durham: Duke UP,
1993. 456-73.
Coviello, Peter. “Intimacy and Affliction: Du
Bois, Race, and Psychoanalysis.” Modern Language Quarterly 64.1 (2003):
1-32.
Hubbard, Dolan. The Souls of Black Folk:
One Hundred Years Later. Columbia: U of Missouri Press: 2003.
Related Links
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~du_bois/
Harvard University – WEB Du Bois Institute website
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~du_bois/
a biographical sketch of Du Bois
http://www.fact-index.com/w/w_/w__e__b__du_bois.html
some facts and further links
This page was researched and submitted by
Schraeder Fowler. Please contact the editor with any questions or
suggestions
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