W. E. B. DUBOIS

Civil Rights Activist, Scholar

1868-1963

William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born on this day in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. An outstanding critic, editor, scholar, author, and civil rights leader, DuBois emerged as one of the most influential Blacks of the 20th century. A well educated man, he received two B.A. degrees from Fisk University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard. Among his many books are The Suppression of the Slave Trade (1896), The Souls of Black Folk (1903), and Black Flame (1957-1961). An advocate of civil rights, DuBois was one of the founding fathers of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He served as director of publications and editor of Crisis magazine, which the NAACP used to voice its demands for educational, political, and social reform
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40 Acres and a Mule Annie Turnbo Malone

W.E.B DuBois
for Blacks. In 1920, the NAACP awarded DuBois the Spingarn Medal for founding the Pan-African Congress. He spoke on lecture tours aross the U.S. and in England, and participated in marches in protest of injustices against Blacks. Migrating to Africa in 1961, he became editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Africana. He died in Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95.

FEBRUARY 25

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