NationMaster - Encyclopedia: W.E.B. DuBois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (pronounced [du'bojz]) (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was a civil rights activist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar, and socialist. He became a naturalized citizen of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1051x1512, 115 KB) Photograph taken by J.E. Purdy in 1904. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1051x1512, 115 KB) Photograph taken by J.E. Purdy in 1904. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... A historian is a person who studies history. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... An Editor is a person who prepares textâ€”typically language, but also images and soundsâ€”for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it. ... A poet is some one who writes poetry. ... A scholar is either a student or someone who has achieved a mastery of some academic discipline, perhaps receiving financial support through a scholarship. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Naturalization is the act whereby a person voluntarily and actively acquires a nationality which is not his or her nationality at birth. ... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ...

David Levering Lewis, his acclaimed biographer, wrote, "In the course of his long, turbulent career, W.E.B. Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism—scholarship, propaganda, integration, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity." [W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963]

Biography

W.E.B. Du Bois was born at Church Street on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington at the southwestern edge of Massachusetts to Alfred Du Bois and Mary Silvina Burghardt Du Bois, whose February 5, 1867 wedding had been announced in the Berkshire Courier. The birthplace of Alfred Du Bois was San Domingo, Haiti.[David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919] Their son was born one year after the Fourteenth Amendment [1] was ratified, and added to the U.S. Constitution. Alfred Du Bois was descended from free people of color, including Dr. James Du Bois of Poughkeepsie, New York, a physician. In the Bahamas, Du Bois sired three sons, including Alfred, and a daughter of his slave mistress. Great Barrington is a town located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area Ranked 44th - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 kmÂ²) - Width 183 miles (295 km) - Length 113 miles (182 km) - % water 13. ... The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and includes the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme...

In 1890 Du Bois graduated cum laude from Harvard University and attended the University of Berlin in 1892. In 1896 Du Bois became the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. After teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio and the University of Pennsylvania, he went on to establish the first department of sociology in the United States at Atlanta University. [2]

Du Bois wrote many books including three major autobiographies. Among his works considered most significant were The Philadelphia Negro in 1896, The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, John Brown in 1909, Black Reconstruction in 1935, and Black Folk, Then and Now in 1939. His book, The Negro (published in 1915) influenced the work of pioneer Africanist scholars as Drusilla Dunjee Houston and William Leo Hansberry.[3][4] This article contains weasel words, which may compromise its neutrality. ... Black Reconstruction in America By W.E.B. Du Bois Black Reconstruction in America is a revisionist approach to looking at the reconstruction of the south after its defeat in the American civil war. ... The Negro is a book by W. E. B. Du Bois published in 1915. ...

In 1940 at Atlanta University, Du Bois founded Phylon magazine. In 1946, he wrote The World and Africa: An Inquiry Into the Part that Africa has Played in World History. In 1945 he helped organize the historic Fifth Pan-African Conference in Manchester, England. [5]

Du Bois was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. Alpha Phi Alpha (Î‘Î¦Î‘) is an intercollegiate fraternity that is generally recognized as the first established by African Americans. ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The terms fraternity and sorority (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning brother and sister respectively) may be used to describe any number of social and charitable organizations, for example the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Rotary International, or the Shriners. ...

While prominent white voices decried African American cultural, political and social relevance to American history and civic life, in his epic work, Reconstruction Du Bois documented how black people were the central figures in the American Civil War and Reconstruction. He demonstrated the ways Black emancipation—the crux of Reconstruction—promoted a radical restructuring of United States society, as well as how and why the country turned its back on human rights for African Americans in the aftermath of Reconstruction.[6] This theme was taken up later and expanded by Eric Foner and Leon F. Litwack, the two leading contemporary scholars of the Reconstruction era. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederate) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties Killed in action: 110,000 Total dead: 360,000 Wounded: 275,200 Killed in action: 93,000 Total dead: 258... // Reconstruction was the period in United States history, 1865â€“77, that resolved the issues of the American Civil War when both the Confederacy and its system of slavery were destroyed. ... Eric Foner (born February 7, 1943 in New York City) is an American historian. ... Leon F. Litwack is an American historian and professor of history emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley. ...

Civil rights activism

Du Bois was the most prominent intellectual leader and political activist on behalf of African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. A contemporary of Booker T. Washington, the two carried on a dialogue about segregation and political disenfranchisement. Labeled the "father of Pan-Africanism", Du Bois believed that people of African descent should work together to battle prejudice and inequality. African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 â€“ November 14, 1915) was an African American political leader, educator and author. ... The Rex Theatre for Colored People, Leland, Mississippi, June 1937 This entry is related to, but not included in the Political ideologies series or one of its sub-series. ... The end of immigrant voting rights early in the twentieth century coincided with other efforts to disenfranchise Americans: poll taxes, literacy tests, and restrictive residency requirements. ... Pan-Africanism is a term which can have two separate, but related meanings. ...

In 1905, Du Bois helped to found the Niagara Movement with William Monroe Trotter but their alliance was short-lived as they had a dispute over whether or not white people should be included in the organization and in the struggle for Civil Rights. Du Bois felt that they should, and with a group of like-minded supporters, he helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Some members of the Niagara Movement in 1905 The Niagara Movement was founded in 1905, by a group of 32 African American men, led by W. E. B. Du Bois, John Hope, and William Monroe Trotter, who called for full civil liberties, an end to racial discrimination, and recognition of... William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934), born Springfield Township, Ohio, was an African-American newspaper editor and protest leader. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ...

In 1910, he left his teaching post at Atlanta University to work as publications director at the NAACP full-time. He wrote weekly columns in many newspapers, including the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier and the New York Amsterdam News, three African-American newspapers, and also the Hearst-owned San Francisco Chronicle. Clark Atlanta University is a private, undergraduate and graduate institution educational institution in Atlanta, Georgia. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... The Chicago Defender announces President Harry S. Trumans order in 1948 desegregating the United States Armed Forces. ... The Pittsburgh Courier was a newspaper for African-Americans. ... The New York Amsterdam News is a weekly newspaper geared for the African-American community of New York City. ... The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ...

For 25 years, Du Bois worked as Editor-in-Chief of the NAACP publication, The Crisis, which then included the subtitle A Record of the Darker Races. He commented freely and widely on current events and set the agenda for the fledgling NAACP. Its circulation soared from 1,000 in 1910 to more than 100,000 by 1920. [The Baltimore Sun, June 8, 1997, "A New and Changed NAACP Magazine"] The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... A 1911 copy of the NAACP journal The Crisis depicting Ra-Maat-Neb, one of the black kings of the Upper Nile. ... Highlights The so-called iTunes Law, which Apple has called state-sponsored piracy, is approved by the French Parliament (coat of arms pictured). ...

Du Bois published Harlem Renaissance writers Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer. As a repository of black thought, the Crisis was initially a monopoly, David Levering Lewis observed. In 1913, Du Bois wrote The Star of Ethiopia, a historical pageant, to promote African-American history and civil rights. The Star of Ethiopia is an American historical pageant written by W.E.B. Du Bois. ...

The seminal debate between Booker T. Washington and Du Bois played out in the pages of the Crisis with Washington advocating an accommodational philosophy of self-help and vocational training for Southern blacks while Du Bois pressed for full educational opportunities. Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 â€“ November 14, 1915) was an African American political leader, educator and author. ...

Du Bois became increasingly estranged from Walter Francis White, the executive secretary of the NAACP, and began to question the organization's opposition to racial segregation at all costs. Du Bois thought that this policy, while generally sound, undermined those black institutions that did exist, which Du Bois thought should be defended and improved, rather than attacked as inferior. By the 1930s, Lewis said, the NAACP had become more institutional and Du Bois, increasingly radical, sometimes at odds with leaders such as Walter White and Roy Wilkins. In 1934, after writing two essays in the Crisis suggesting that black separatism could be a useful economic strategy, Du Bois left the magazine to return to teaching at Atlanta University. Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893, Atlanta, Georgia - March 21, 1955, New York, New York) was a spokesman for blacks in the United States for almost a quarter of a century and executive secretary (1931–55) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. ...

White historians

In 1899, the American Historical Association (AHA) convened in Boston and Cambridge. According to Du Bois biographer David Levering Lewis, "The Association then numbered fifteen hundred members and was presided over by James Ford Rhodes, successful Ohio businessman and even more successful author of the arbitral, multi-volume History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. At this 1899 meeting, there were no Jews, no Negroes, no women to speak of, and all the gays were in the closet."

In 1909, W.E.B. Du Bois addressed the AHA. "His would be the first and last appearance of an African American on the program until 1940."[7]

In a review [November 5, 2000, Washington Post] of Part II of Lewis's biography of Du Bois, Michael R. Winston observed that one historical question not often addressed is also fundamental to an understanding of American history. That questions is "how black Americans developed the psychological stamina and collective social capacity to cope with the sophisticated system of racial domination that white Americans had anchored deeply in law and custom."

Winston continued, "Although any reasonable answer is extraordinarily complex, no adequate one can ignore the man (Du Bois)whose genius was for 70 years at the intellectual epicenter of the struggle to destroy white supremacy as public policy and social fact in the United States."

Imperial Japan

Du Bois became impressed by the growing strength of Imperial Japan following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War. Du Bois saw the victory of Japan over Tsarist Russia as an example of "colored pride". According to historian David Levering Lewis, Du Bois became a willing part of Japan's "Negro Propaganda Operations" run by Japanese academic and Imperial Agent Hikida Yasuichi. The ensign of Imperial Japanese Navy was a prominent symbol of Imperial Japan. ... Insert non-formatted text here Combatants Imperial Russia Empire of Japan Strength 500,000 Soldiers 400,000 Soldiers Casualties 25,331 Killed 146,032 Wounded 47,387 Killed 173,425 Wounded Greater Manchuria, Russian (outer) Manchuria is region to upper right in lighter Red; Liaodong Peninsula is the wedge extending... Росси́йская Импе́рия, (also Imperial Russia) covers the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great into the Russian Empire stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposition of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start of the Russian Revolution... David Levering Lewis is an American historian and winner in 1994 and 2001 of the Pulitzer Prize for part one and part two of his biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. ...

After traveling to the United States to speak with University students at Howard University, Scripps College and Tuskegee University, Yasuichi became closely involved in shaping Du Bois's opinions of Imperial Japan. In 1936 Yasuichi and the Japanese Ambassador arranged a junket for Du Bois and a small group of fellow academics. The trip included stops in Japan, China, and the Soviet Union, although the Soviet leg was canceled because Du Bois' diplomatic contact, Karl Radek, had been swept up in Stalin's purges. While on the Chinese leg of the trip, Du Bois commented that the source of Chinese-Japanese enmity was China's "submission to white aggression and Japan's resistance", and he asked the Chinese people to welcome the Japanese as liberators. The effectiveness of the Japanese propaganda campaign was also seen when Du Bois joined a large group of African American academics that cited the Mukden Incident to justify occupation and annexation of southern Manchuria. Howard University is an historically black university in Washington, D.C. Notable alumni include Toni Morrison, Thurgood Marshall, Ossie Davis, Debbie Allen, and Phylicia Rashad. ... Scripps College is a small residential womens liberal arts college located in Claremont, California. ... Tuskegee University is an American institution of higher learning located in Tuskegee, Alabama. ... Karl Bernhardovich Radek (October 31, 1885 - May 19, 1939) was a Bolshevik and an international Communist leader. ... (Russian: Ð˜Ð¾ÌÑÐ¸Ñ„ Ð’Ð¸ÑÑÐ°Ñ€Ð¸Ð¾ÌÐ½Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ñ‡ Ð¡Ñ‚Ð°ÌÐ»Ð¸Ð½, Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] â€“ March 5, 1953), also spelled Josef Stalin, was the leader (Premier) of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet... The Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931, also called the Manchurian Incident, occurred in southern Manchuria when a section of railroad, owned by Japans South Manchuria Railway, near Mukden (todays Shenyang) was blown up. ... Manchuria (Manchu: Manju; Traditional Chinese: æ»¿æ´²; Simplified Chinese: æ»¡æ´²; pinyin: MÇŽnzhÅu, Russian: ) is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. ...

Joined Communist Party at Age 93

Du Bois was investigated by the FBI, who claimed in May of 1942 that "[h]is writing indicates him to be a socialist," and that he "has been called a Communist and at the same time criticized by the Communist Party." The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the federal criminal investigative and intelligence agency, which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

Du Bois visited Communist China during the Great Leap Forward. Also, in the 16 March 1953 issue of The National Guardian, Du Bois wrote "Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20^th century approach his stature." Propaganda poster of the Great Leap Forward. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ...

Du Bois was chairman of the Peace Information Center at the start of the Korean War. He was among the signers of the Stockholm Peace Pledge, which opposed the use of nuclear weapons. He was indicted in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and acquitted for lack of evidence. W.E.B. Du Bois became disillusioned with both black capitalism and racism in the United States. In 1959, Du Bois received the Lenin Peace Prize. In 1961, at the age of 93, he joined the Communist Party, USA and announced his membership in The New York Times. Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: South Korea, United States, United Kingdom Communist combatants: North Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Soviet Union Commanders Douglas MacArthur Kim Il-sung, (Peng Dehuai de facto) Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... From the United States Department of Justice - Criminal Division homepage: The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit administers the FARA and maintains a public office to make all registration materials available to the public. ... Evidence has several meanings as indicated below. ... The International Stalin Peace Prize (renamed ÐœÐµÐ¶Ð´ÑƒÐ½Ð°Ñ€Ð¾Ð´Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð›ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ð½ÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ð¿Ñ€ÐµÐ¼Ð¸Ñ Â«Ð—Ð° ÑƒÐºÑ€ÐµÐ¿Ð»ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ðµ Ð¼Ð¸Ñ€Ð° Ð¼ÐµÐ¶Ð´Ñƒ Ð½Ð°Ñ€Ð¾Ð´Ð°Ð¼Ð¸Â», the International Lenin Peace Prize as a result of destalinization) was the Soviet Unions answer to the Nobel Peace Prize. ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is one of several Marxist-Leninist groups in the United States. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

Becomes Citizen of Ghana at Age 95

Du Bois was invited to Ghana in 1961 by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana, a government production, and a long-held dream of his. When, in 1963, he was refused a new U.S. passport, he and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, became citizens of Ghana. Du Bois' health had declined in 1962, and on August 27, 1963 he died in Accra, Ghana at the age of ninety-five, one day before Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Kwame Nkrumah (September 21, 1909 â€“ April 27, 1972) was an African anti-colonial leader, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state and one of the most influential Pan-Africanists of the 20th century. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956â€“present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Accra, population 1,661,400 (2001), is the capital of Ghana. ... Martin Luther King, Jr. ... hannah foreman of the American Civil Rights Movement. ...

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 the University of Massachusetts Amherst was named after him. A selection of Hong Kong postal stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... The University of Massachusetts Amherst (otherwise known as UMass Amherst or simply UMass) is a land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts. ...

Biographies

David Levering Lewis is an American historian and winner in 1994 and 2001 of the Pulitzer Prize for part one and part two of his biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... David Levering Lewis is an American historian and winner in 1994 and 2001 of the Pulitzer Prize for part one and part two of his biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. ... Manning Marable (b. ...

Books by W.E.B Du Bois

See also: 1902 in literature, other events of 1903, 1904 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This article contains weasel words, which may compromise its neutrality. ... John Browns Oath Engraving from daguerreotype by Augustus Washington, ca. ... See also: 1908 in literature, other events of 1909, 1910 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1910 in literature, other events of 1911, 1912 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1919 in literature, other events of 1920, 1921 in literature, List of years in literature. ... See also: 1923 in literature, other events of 1924, 1925 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1927 in literature, other events of 1928, 1929 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Black Reconstruction in America By W.E.B. Du Bois Black Reconstruction in America is a revisionist approach to looking at the reconstruction of the south after its defeat in the American civil war. ... See also: 1934 in literature, other events of 1935, 1936 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1939 in literature, other events of 1940, 1941 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1944 in literature, other events of 1945, 1946 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1945 in literature, other events of 1946, 1947 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1956 in literature, other events of 1957, 1958 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1958 in literature, other events of 1959, 1960 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1960 in literature, other events of 1961, 1962 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1962 in literature, other events of 1963, 1964 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1964 in literature, other events of 1965, 1966 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

Articles by W.E.B. Du Bois

Contents

Biography

Civil rights activism

White historians

Imperial Japan

Joined Communist Party at Age 93

Becomes Citizen of Ghana at Age 95

Biographies

Books by W.E.B Du Bois

Articles by W.E.B. Du Bois

Further reading

See also

References and external links