We celebrate the fact W.E.B. DuBois was born on this date in 1868. He was an African American sociologist and one of the most important Black protest leaders in the United States during the first half of the 20th century.W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt) DuBois was born in Great Barrington, MA. He graduated from Fisk University in 1888. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895. His doctoral dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published in 1896. Although DuBois took an advanced degree in history, he was broadly trained in the social sciences; and at a time when sociologists were theorizing about race relations, he was conducting inquiries into the condition of Blacks.
DuBois died on August 27, 1963 in Accra, Ghana. His autobiography was published in 1968. Click here to see directory of books by and about DuBois.
