Born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, William Edward Burghardt DuBois was destined to become a leader. After graduating from Great Barrington High School, DuBois recieved a scholarship to Fisk University in Tennessee and graduated in 1888 with a Batchelor's degree from Fisk (Marable 7). Two years later, he earned another Batchelor's degree, which was followed by a Master's degree in 1891, both from Harvard. DuBois continued his education, and received a Doctorate from Harvard in 1895, the first black American to do so (W.E.B. DuBois). His doctoral dissertation, The Supression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published as the first volume of the Harvard Historical Studies (Moses).

After completing his education, W.E.B. DuBois began teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio. He then went to Atlanta University in 1897 to teach history and economics. During this time, he published many articles and books including his most famous narrative, The Souls of Black Folk (W.E.B. DuBois). The narrative's compilation of essays expresses DuBois's basic idea that social change was imperative.

DuBois soon left teaching and turned his attention to civil rights. In 1905, other civil rights advocates and he founded the Niagara Movement. Within four years, it evolved into a section of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). For twenty-four years, DuBois served as editor of The Crisis, the NAACP's literary magazine (Rudwick). During these years, DuBois's writing became "colorful and poetic vignettes that resembled biblical parables"; however, his essays always argued for civil rights and an end to "senseless" prejudice. He later resigned from his position because of idealogical differences between the NAACP and himself (Moses); he later stated that resigning from The Crisis was "like giving up a child" (Marable 143).

DuBois was not the only civil rights leader during this time period. Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey were also popular. In most cases, DuBois often conflicted with these other leaders. Washington believed that African Americans should progress economically to prove their worthiness of political rights; Marcus Garvey, whose racial pride DuBois admired, advocated the relocation of blacks to Africa. W.E.B. DuBois, on the other hand, advocated political agitation, short of violence. His opinion was that "African Americans must speak out constantly against discrimination" in order for it to be resolved (Rudwick).

Towards the end of his life, DuBois became increasingly dissatisfied with race relations in the United States. He looked to Communist Russia and saw that prejudice was nearly nonexistent in that society. DuBois felt admiration for the Soviet Union and was sympathetic towards international communism. During 1958, he traveled through Eastern Europe, where he received numerous awards, including the Lenin Peace Prize (Moses). In 1961, at the age of ninety-three, DuBois joined the Communist Party believing that Communism was a solution to blacks' problems (Rudwick). That same year, he moved to Ghana, where he became a citizen in 1963. He died in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on August 27, 1963 (W.E.B. DuBois).

In his novel, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison frequently refers to DuBois's ideals as presented in The Souls of Black Folk. The Brotherhood, a key part of Ellison's novel, may have been inspired by DuBois's view of socialism. DuBois believed that socialism was appealing because it was a "universal 'brotherhood' beyond the veil of color" (Marable 108). DuBois's views of socialist brotherhood parallel the Brotherhood that Invisible Man eventually joins in Ellison's book. The techniques used by Ellison's Brotherhood also mirror DuBois's ideals for progression in civil rights movements. Both assumed reasonably nonviolent means of agitation, though at times, they led to fighting. Another allusion to The Souls of Black Folk by Ellison is seen with the culpture Invisible Man describes in "Chapter 2." The sculpture is of the Founder of the college and a slave, and The Founder appears to be lifting a veil from the face of a kneeling slave. The sculpture's veil compares to DuBois's belief that a veil covers American society in racial prejudice, a concept that is continually discussed in The Souls of Black Folk. The theme of the veil continues throughout Invisible Man reappearing in "Chapter 29." Ellison then portrays DuBois's notion of a dual being. During the chapel scene in "Chapter 5" of Invisible Man, Ellison portrays Dr. Bledsoe as having two faces: one that is white for when he is with white people, and then one that is black for when he is working with blacks. DuBois explains this in The Souls of Black Folk as dualism of selves.

Marable, Manning. W.E.B. DuBois: Black Radical Democrat. Boston: Twayne, 1986.

Moses, Wilson J. "DuBois, W.E.B." Encyclopedia Americana. 1997 ed.

Rudwick, Elliott. "DuBois, W.E.B." World Book Encyclopedia. 1997 ed.

W.E.B. DuBois. n.d. [Online]. Available: http://library.advanced.org/ 10320/DuBois.htm

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