DuBois was born on February 23, 1868, three years after the American Civil War, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (W.E.B.). DuBois grew up in a large family that consisted of his mother, older brother, aunts, and cousins; they were called the “Burghardt clan”. DuBois’s father had been run off by the Burghardts, who disliked him because he had a light skinned complexion, when DuBois was only two years old (Smith & Giovanni; 196).

As a young child, DuBois was obedient, hard working and intelligent in school. While attending high school, DuBois helped out his mother by working odd jobs after school such as mowing lawns, selling newspapers and tea, and writing for the Springfield Republican. DuBois had an almost perfect attendance record at Great Barrington High School, where he excelled academically, out doing his white counterparts in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and history (Smith & Giovanni; 197). DuBois was the on

In 1961, DuBois moved to Ghana, as an act of defiance, and joined the American Communist Party. At the age of ninety-three, DuBois began work on the Encyclopedia Africana, a work on Africans and people of African decent throughout the world (W.E.B.). DuBois’s passport expired in 1963 and he applied to have it renewed, but was denied by the U.S. government because he was a registered communist. DuBois renounced his U.S. citizenship and became a citizen of Ghana. The President Kwame Nkrumah welcomed DuBois and deemed him the first citizen of Africa. A few months later on August 27, 1963, DuBois died of natural causes (Hynes).

While at Atlanta University, DuBois edited the Atlanta University Publication, which was a sociological investigation of black life, such as business, education, and religion. In addition to that, DuBois edited two short-lived magazines that covered a wide variety of topics such as current events of world race relations, art, politics, education, and literature (Hynes).

After completing his research at the University of Pennsylvania, he accepted a position at Atlanta University as a professor in economics and history. While teaching, DuBois wrote and studied Negro morality, urbanization, crime, Negroes in business, college-bred Negroes, and the Negro church. He produced his most popular book, The Souls of Black Folk in 1903. It discussed the meaning of being black in America at the turn of the century and identified the “the color line” as the central problem of the 20th century (Smith & Giovanni; 199). In Souls, DuBois challenged Booker T. Washington’s opinion, one of the most popular and influential black leaders in the time from 1896 to 1915. Washington believed that African-Americans should surrender the ballot and accept second-class citizenship. DuBois believed that without the ballot, citizenship, and higher education in arts and sciences that there could not be any black advances (DuBois).

DuBois entered Fisk University in 1885 at age 17 and at sophomore status. As DuBois went through college he learned Greek, mathematics, philosophy, and science. At Fisk, DuBois’s colleagues brought him their experiences of mob violence, lynching, and segregation in southern black communities. DuBois became interested and concerned in local and national events. With that in mind, DuBois also edited the school newspaper, the Fisk Herald (W.E.B.).

DuBois was a great example of black intellectual in America. DuBois wr

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