W.E.B Du Bois

W.E.B Du Bois, known as the father of Pan-Africanism, was social scientist who documented the historical and social truths of African American lives as well as the harsh conditions shown towards them. He was an author of non-fiction, fiction and poetry books, editor of The Crisis Magazine, a scholar, poet, teacher, radical leader, novelist and also a sociologist. His intellectuality influenced young blacks to display their talents towards others. Du bois dedicated his life to help African Americans achieve equality in the United States.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois also known as W.E.B Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and raised by his mother, Mary Salvina Burghardt while his father, Alfred Du Bois left soon after his birth. She struggled to support herself and her son so she took a job as a maid to help pay wages. As Du Bois got older he took on odd jobs such as delivering groceries and selling newspapers. Being intellectually gifted and brilliant, he became a reporter and graduated Great Barrington High School at the age of fifteen. He received a scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and studied Greek, Latin, chemistry, German, philosophy, classical literature and physics. While attending Fisk, Du Bois experienced the vicious realities of southern racism towards African Americans because of the Jim Crow Laws and soon withdrew from society. He spent his summers teaching at schools in rural black communities in the eastern part of Tennessee and realized the harsh conditions that African American people have been facing.
After graduating from Fisk in 1888, he enrolled in Harvard University and studied history and social sciences. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in 1890 and a master’s degree in 1891. His outstanding speculative record also earned him a scholarship to study abroad, so he spent two years at the University of Berlin in Germany centering on politics, economics and history. In 1894 Du Bois became a... [continues]

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