WilliamEdwardBurghardtDuBois(February23,1868–August27,1963)wasanAmericancivilrightsactivist,Pan-Africanist,sociologist,historian,author,andeditor.HistorianDavidLeveringLewiswrote,"Inthecourseofhislong,turbulentcareer,W.E.B.DuBoisattemptedvirtuallyeverypossiblesolutiontotheproblemoftwentieth-centuryracism—scholarship,propaganda,integration,nationalself-determination,humanrights,culturalandeconomicseparatism,politics,internationalcommunism,expatriation,thirdworldsolidarity."

　　ThefirstAfrican-AmericangraduateofHarvardUniversity,whereheearnedhisPh.DinHistory,DuBoislaterbecameaprofessorofhistoryandeconomicsatAtlantaUniversity.HebecametheheadoftheNationalAssociationfortheAdvancementofColoredPeople(NAACP)in1910,becomingfounderandeditoroftheNAACP'sjournalTheCrisis.DuBoisrosetonationalattentioninhisoppositionofBookerT.Washington'sideasofsocialintegrationbetweenwhitesandblacks,campaigninginsteadforincreasedpoliticalrepresentationforblacksinordertoguaranteecivilrights,andtheformationofaBlackelitethatwouldworkfortheprogressoftheAfricanAmericanrace.

　　Writings

　　DuBoiswrotemanybooks,includingthreemajorautobiographies.AmonghismostsignificantworksareThePhiladelphiaNegro(1899),TheSoulsofBlackFolk(1903),JohnBrown(1909),BlackReconstruction(1935),andBlackFolk,ThenandNow(1939).HisbookTheNegro(1915)influencedtheworkofseveralpioneerAfricanistscholars,suchasDrusillaDunjeeHouston[8]andWilliamLeoHansberry.

　　IntheNewYorkTimesreviewofTheSoulsofBlackFolk,theanonymousbookreviewerwrote,"ForitistheJimCrowcar,andthefactthathemaynotsmokeacigaranddrinkacupofteawiththewhitemanintheSouth,thatmostgallsWilliamE.BurghardtDuBoisoftheAtlantaCollegeforNegroes."

　　[I]tisthethoughtofanegroofNortherneducationwhohaslivedlongamonghisbrethrenoftheSouthyetwhocannotfullyfeelthemeaningofsomethingswhichthesebrethrenknowbyinstinct—andwhichtheSouthern-bredwhiteknowsbyasimilarinstinct:certainthingswhicharebybothacceptedasfacts—nottheories—fundamentalattitudesofracetoracewhicharetheproductofconditionsextendingovercenturies,asarethesomewhatparallelattitudesofthegentrytothepeasantryinothercountries.

　　WhileprominentwhitescholarsdeniedAfrican-Americancultural,politicalandsocialrelevancetoAmericanhistoryandciviclife,inhisepicworkBlackReconstruction,DuBoisdocumentedhowblackpeoplewerecentralfiguresintheAmericanCivilWarandReconstruction,andalsoshowedhowtheymadeallianceswithwhitepoliticians.HeprovidedevidencetodisprovetheDunningSchooltheoriesofReconstruction,showingthecoalitiongovernmentsestablishedpubliceducationintheSouth,aswellasmanyneededsocialserviceprograms.HedemonstratedthewaysinwhichBlackemancipation—thecruxofReconstruction—promotedaradicalrestructuringofUnitedStatessociety,aswellashowandwhythecountryfailedtocontinuesupportforcivilrightsforblacksintheaftermathofReconstruction.ThisthemewastakenuplaterandexpandedbyEricFonerandLeonF.Litwack,thetwoleadinglatetwentiethcenturyscholarsoftheReconstructionera.

　　In1940,atAtlantaUniversity,DuBoisfoundedPhy