ABOUT DR. DU BOIS
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W.E.B. DuBois Centre in Accra
History of Gold Coast, Afro Americans and Trans-Atlantic Slave Trad 
Du Bois (center) at his 95th birthday party in 1963 in Ghana, with President of the Republic of Ghana Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (right) and First Lady Fathia Nkrumah. (Header: Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Accra)
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ABOUT DR. DU BOIS:
The W.E.B.DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture was established on 22nd June, 1985 in Accra at House No. 22,1st Circular Road, Cantonments. Now a national monument, the building houses a Museum, Library and Seminar facilities. Dr. William Edward Burghardt DuBois (February 23, 1868-August 27, 1963) was born in great Barrington, Massachusetts, of French, Dutch and African ancestry. He was educated at Great Barrington high school , where he obtained a scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, an African American school, from which he graduated in 1888. He next spent four years at Harvard University obtaining his A.B. in philosophy in 1890 and then pursuing graduate studies in political economy and history. In 1892 he won a fellowship to Berlin University. |
Dr. DuBois was born in Great Barrington, Mass., on Feb. 23, 1868, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation. He was born, as he phrased it in his autobiography, "Dusk at Dawn," "with a flood of Negro blood, a strain of French, a bit of Dutch, but, thank God, no 'Anglo-Saxon.'"
In Great Barrington, a tolerant, provincial town, Dr. DuBois grew up as one of about 50 African-Americans, among 5,000 inhabitants. His mother's family, among whom he was raised, had lived in a relatively humble situation in a community where social status was determined by income and ancestry and not by color.
Because of this economic leveling, Dr. DuBois was not faced with racial discrimination until he had left New England to attend college in the South.
In Great Barrington, a tolerant, provincial town, Dr. DuBois grew up as one of about 50 African-Americans, among 5,000 inhabitants. His mother's family, among whom he was raised, had lived in a relatively humble situation in a community where social status was determined by income and ancestry and not by color.
Because of this economic leveling, Dr. DuBois was not faced with racial discrimination until he had left New England to attend college in the South.
W. E. B. Du Bois Quotes
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A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills.
W. E. B. Du Bois |
Believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader, and fuller life.
W. E. B. Du Bois |
But what of black women?... I most sincerely doubt if any other race of women could have brought its fineness up through so devilish a fire.
W. E. B. Du Bois |
He received his Ph.D from Harvard-the first African american to obtain a Harvard doctorate- for his thesis on "The Suppression of African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870."
On leaving Harvard, he had been appointed professor of classics at Wilberforce University, Ohio. He left in 1896 for the university of Pensylvania, where he turned to sociology, becoming the first African American sociologist in the United States.
In 1897 he was appointed director of Negro Studies at Atlanta University, Georgia.
He Published a number of sociological research studies, including The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study(1899)and The Souls of Black Folk (1903).
DuBois initiated the Niagra Movement(1905-10), a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (N.A.A.C.P), which called for full political, civil and social rights for African Americans.
He also became editor of the N.A.A.C.P publication, The Crisis.DuBois also inspired the organization of several Pan African Congresses between 1919 and 1945.
In 1961 came to ghana at the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah. DuBois became a Ghanaian citizen and was the first director of the Encyclopedia African project.
He was elected a Fellow at the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961, and awarded a doctorate in literature by the University of Ghana in 1963. He Died in Accra on August of the same year.
A Pan African Call
The story of W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture begins well before the Centre was established in 1985. It dates back to 1945 when the fifth Pan African Congress was held in Manchester, England.
Dr. DuBois and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
Dr. DuBois and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah It was at that congress that Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois met Kwame Nkrumah.
That meeting was beginning of a life-long friendship. Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois lived a long life focused on study and research. For his efforts Du Bois was the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University .
Dr. Du Bois was also concerned with the state of the Africans on the Continent. He became a source of inspiration and advice for freedom fighters and future leaders of the independent African States.
On leaving Harvard, he had been appointed professor of classics at Wilberforce University, Ohio. He left in 1896 for the university of Pensylvania, where he turned to sociology, becoming the first African American sociologist in the United States.
In 1897 he was appointed director of Negro Studies at Atlanta University, Georgia.
He Published a number of sociological research studies, including The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study(1899)and The Souls of Black Folk (1903).
DuBois initiated the Niagra Movement(1905-10), a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (N.A.A.C.P), which called for full political, civil and social rights for African Americans.
He also became editor of the N.A.A.C.P publication, The Crisis.DuBois also inspired the organization of several Pan African Congresses between 1919 and 1945.
In 1961 came to ghana at the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah. DuBois became a Ghanaian citizen and was the first director of the Encyclopedia African project.
He was elected a Fellow at the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961, and awarded a doctorate in literature by the University of Ghana in 1963. He Died in Accra on August of the same year.
A Pan African Call
The story of W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture begins well before the Centre was established in 1985. It dates back to 1945 when the fifth Pan African Congress was held in Manchester, England.
Dr. DuBois and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
Dr. DuBois and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah It was at that congress that Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois met Kwame Nkrumah.
That meeting was beginning of a life-long friendship. Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois lived a long life focused on study and research. For his efforts Du Bois was the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University .
Dr. Du Bois was also concerned with the state of the Africans on the Continent. He became a source of inspiration and advice for freedom fighters and future leaders of the independent African States.
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He taught at Wilberforce College and Atlanta University before becoming the first editor of The Crisis, the national newspaper of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) of which he also was a founding member.
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Dr. Du Bois was also concerned with the state of the Africans on the Continent. He became a source of inspiration and advice for freedom fighters and future leaders of the independent African States.
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William Edward Burghardt "W. E. B." Du Bois
(pronounced /duːˈbɔɪz/ doo-boyz; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. After graduating from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
Du Bois rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks. Du Bois and his supporters opposed the Atlanta compromise, an agreement crafted by Booker T. Washington which provided that Southern blacks would work and submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic educational and economic opportunities. Instead, Du Bois insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as the Talented Tenth and believed that African Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership.
Racism was the main target of Du Bois's polemics, and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. His cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in colonies. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and helped organize several Pan-African Congresses to fight for independence of African colonies from European powers. Du Bois made several trips to Europe, Africa and Asia. After World War I, he surveyed the experiences of American black soldiers in France and documented widespread bigotry in the United States military.
Du Bois was a prolific author. His collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, was a seminal work in African-American literature; and his 1935 magnum opus Black Reconstruction in America challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era. He wrote the first scientific treatise in the field of sociology; and he published three autobiographies, each of which contains insightful essays on sociology, politics and history. In his role as editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis, he published many influential pieces. Du Bois believed that capitalism was a primary cause of racism, and he was generally sympathetic to socialist causes throughout his life. He was an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. The United States' Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for which Du Bois had campaigned his entire life, was enacted a year after his death.
Racial violence
Two calamities in the autumn of 1906 shocked African Americans, and contributed to strengthening support for Du Bois' struggle for civil rights to prevail over Booker T. Washington's accommodationism. First, President Teddy Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 black soldiers because they were accused of crimes as a result of the Brownsville Affair. Many of the discharged soldiers had served for 20 years and were near retirement. Second, in September, riots broke out in Atlanta, precipitated by unfounded allegations of black men assaulting white women. This was a catalyst for racial tensions based on a job shortage and employers playing black workers against white workers. Ten thousand whites rampaged through Atlanta, beating every black person they could find, resulting in over 25 deaths. In the aftermath of the 1906 violence, Du Bois urged blacks to withdraw their support from the Republican party, because Republicans Roosevelt and William Howard Taft did not sufficiently support blacks. Most African Americans had been loyal to the Republican party since the time of Abraham Lincoln.
Du Bois wrote the essay, "A Litany at Atlanta", which asserted that the riot demonstrated that the Atlanta Compromise was a failure. Despite upholding their end of the bargain, blacks had failed to receive legal justice in the South. Historian David Lewis has written that the Compromise no longer held because white patrician planters, who took a paternalistic role, had been replaced by aggressive businessmen who were willing to pit blacks against whites. These two calamities were watershed events for the African-American community, marking the ascendancy of Du Bois' vision of equal rights.
His first wife, Mrs. Nina Gomer DuBois, whom he married in 1896, died in 1950, and a year later, he married Shirley Graham, a writer.
He was surviving by his widow and a daughter, Mrs. Yolanda Williams.
* Part of Text (c) Wikipedia
(pronounced /duːˈbɔɪz/ doo-boyz; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. After graduating from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
Du Bois rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks. Du Bois and his supporters opposed the Atlanta compromise, an agreement crafted by Booker T. Washington which provided that Southern blacks would work and submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic educational and economic opportunities. Instead, Du Bois insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as the Talented Tenth and believed that African Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership.
Racism was the main target of Du Bois's polemics, and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. His cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in colonies. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and helped organize several Pan-African Congresses to fight for independence of African colonies from European powers. Du Bois made several trips to Europe, Africa and Asia. After World War I, he surveyed the experiences of American black soldiers in France and documented widespread bigotry in the United States military.
Du Bois was a prolific author. His collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, was a seminal work in African-American literature; and his 1935 magnum opus Black Reconstruction in America challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era. He wrote the first scientific treatise in the field of sociology; and he published three autobiographies, each of which contains insightful essays on sociology, politics and history. In his role as editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis, he published many influential pieces. Du Bois believed that capitalism was a primary cause of racism, and he was generally sympathetic to socialist causes throughout his life. He was an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. The United States' Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for which Du Bois had campaigned his entire life, was enacted a year after his death.
Racial violence
Two calamities in the autumn of 1906 shocked African Americans, and contributed to strengthening support for Du Bois' struggle for civil rights to prevail over Booker T. Washington's accommodationism. First, President Teddy Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 black soldiers because they were accused of crimes as a result of the Brownsville Affair. Many of the discharged soldiers had served for 20 years and were near retirement. Second, in September, riots broke out in Atlanta, precipitated by unfounded allegations of black men assaulting white women. This was a catalyst for racial tensions based on a job shortage and employers playing black workers against white workers. Ten thousand whites rampaged through Atlanta, beating every black person they could find, resulting in over 25 deaths. In the aftermath of the 1906 violence, Du Bois urged blacks to withdraw their support from the Republican party, because Republicans Roosevelt and William Howard Taft did not sufficiently support blacks. Most African Americans had been loyal to the Republican party since the time of Abraham Lincoln.
Du Bois wrote the essay, "A Litany at Atlanta", which asserted that the riot demonstrated that the Atlanta Compromise was a failure. Despite upholding their end of the bargain, blacks had failed to receive legal justice in the South. Historian David Lewis has written that the Compromise no longer held because white patrician planters, who took a paternalistic role, had been replaced by aggressive businessmen who were willing to pit blacks against whites. These two calamities were watershed events for the African-American community, marking the ascendancy of Du Bois' vision of equal rights.
His first wife, Mrs. Nina Gomer DuBois, whom he married in 1896, died in 1950, and a year later, he married Shirley Graham, a writer.
He was surviving by his widow and a daughter, Mrs. Yolanda Williams.
* Part of Text (c) Wikipedia
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