Big Apple History . Business and Politics . W.E.B. Du Bois


	W.E.B. Du Bois

In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote a book titled THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK. In it, he concluded that "the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line -- the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men..." Du Bois (pronounced "doo BOYS") believed that the key to breaking down racial barriers was for college-educated blacks to teach less fortunate blacks. He practiced what he preached. In 1895, after graduating from college, he became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard. For over 10 years, he taught history and economics at Atlanta University.

Speaking for African Americans, he wrote, "By every civilized and peaceful method we must strive for the rights which the world accords to men." Du Bois helped form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization that fought racial discrimination through peaceful protest and education. The NAACP published THE CRISIS, a magazine edited by Du Bois. THE CRISIS argued that blacks could achieve social equality only if they embraced their African cultural heritage and spoke out against prejudice.

Illustration: Courtesy of the Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.