W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868 - August 27, 1963) was an American civil rights leader.
He was born in the village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts and became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard. Following this, he was to spend many years studying the lives and situations of African Americans, applying social science to problems of race relations.
He was to become one of the more notable political activists on behalf of African American. A contemporary of Booker T. Washington, he argued with the latter in print about African American acceptance of issues such as segregation. In 1905, Du Bois helped to found the Niagara Movement, and in 1909 he helped to found the NAACP. In 1910, he left his teaching post at Atlanta University to work as publications director at the NAACP.
In his later years, W. E. B. Du Bois became increasingly disillusioned with both black capitalism and the United States. He emigrated to Ghana in 1961 and joined the Communist Party there. He died on August 27, 1963 in Ghana.
In 1992, the United States honored W. E. B. Du Bois with his portrait on a postage stamp. On October 5, 1994, the main library at UMass Amherst was named after him.
Quotes
"I sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm and arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out of the caves of evening that swing between the strong-limbed Earth and the tracery of stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the veil."
Bibliography
- The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
- Dark Princess (1928)
- "The Evolution of Negro Leadership" published in The Dial 31 (July 16, 1901).
- "The Talented Tenth" published as the second chapter of The Negro Problem, a collection of articles by African Americans.
External link
Referenced By
1868 in literature | 1963 in literature | 21 April | 21st April | April 21 | April 21st | Claude McKay | Famous African-American people | Famous African-Americans | Known by the initials | List of African-Americans | List of African Americans | List of famous African-Americans | List of notable poets | List of people by name: Du | List of people known by initials | List of people on stamps of the United States | List of poets | List of socialists | Niagara Movement | People on stamps of the United States | Phi Beta Kappa | Phi Beta Kappa Society
|
