The Great Gatsby

W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963)





William Edward Burghart DuBois entered the world in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on February 23, 1868. The town had very little discrimination, which was rare in those times. The DuBois family was poor but well respected.

DuBois proved to be adept in school and attained a scholarship to Fisk University. He also attended Harvard University where he received his Master's degree, a doctorate, and a grant to study in Berlin. He also was employed as a professor in several universities.

Many of DuBois' theories were responses to Booker T. Washington. Washington believed in self-advancement through education and political status and solidarity within one's race. DuBois believed Washington's resolutions were a form of black submission to whites.

DuBois' greatest contribution to the Harlem Renaissance was his literary works, such as The Souls of Black Folk and Suppression of the African Slave Trade. They promoted racial assimilation, cooperation, and the use of education to annihilate racism. He also founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) along with several others of Black and White denomination in 1909. He was the director of publicity from 1912-1934. He was also a United Nations consultant and edited his magazine, Crisis, from 1910-1932.

DuBois contributed much of his time and effort to the education and enlightenment of many Americans. He eventually became disheartened by the American situation and became a Ghanian citizen in 1963 where he died that same year on August 27.




Bibliography

www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Garvey-Dubois/biography.htm

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Curator: Cassandra Jackson