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The Philadelphia Negro

In 1896, white aristocrat and reformer Susan P. Wharton, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania and the College Settlement Association, commissioned William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois to undertake a study on Negroes in Philadelphia. Since Philadelphia contained the largest black population north of the Mason-Dixon Line (of all U.S. cities, only New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore had larger populations), African Americans residing in the City of Brotherly Love became a logical group for examination. The genesis of the study originated in late 19th-century reform movements, comprising New Social Science, Social Gospel, and College Settlement House Associations, which were designed to investigate the debased condition of downtrodden urbanites and offer problem-solving suggestions to ameliorate life for the urban poor.

Those who instituted the study held more than altruistic thoughts toward the black community, however, as their ulterior motive for the investigation was self-serving and pertained to politics. Elite reformers became disgruntled by the behavior of the corrupt political machine that derived support from the black electorate. They therefore sought to document the moral and social condition of local blacks. Du Bois, who had studied in Berlin and recently graduated with his doctorate from Harvard, became the ideal researcher for the project. Du Bois's extensive study on research methodology, which he had learned in Germany, and publication of his Suppression of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the first monograph published in the Harvard Historical Studies, demonstrated he possessed the acumen and preparation for the task at hand. Thus Du Bois easily complied with the stated goals of the benefactors of the research project, who sought to understand the “Negro problem” by focusing on the Seventh Ward, the largest and most diverse black ward in the city.

Du Bois's Field Research for the Study

Du Bois's extensive field research and writing conducted on black Philadelphians was completed within the short time span of 15 months and achieved a series of firsts. Indeed, when Du Bois's The Philadelphia Negro was published in 1967, it became the first book of modern sociology. As members of a fledgling academic discipline, sociologists traditionally read books, reflected on the information presented, and offered ideas without conducting investigative research. Therefore, the interviews Du Bois conducted with Seventh Ward residents broke new ground in scientific inquiry. A second novel contribution inherent in Du Bois's work pertained to the original analysis that evolved from the format and methodology of his work. After conducting house-to-house interviews with all the black families in the Seventh Ward, Du Bois acquired can did information from 9,675 subjects. Through these investigations, Du Bois gained insight on the condition, aspirations, trials, and tribulations of the black community.

The Philadelphia Negro contained information about African Americans never previously presented to interested readers. Conscious of the need to make his work comprehensible to readers, Du Bois divided his study into four parts. The first part describes the history of the black people in the city, their present condition as individuals, their behavior as a social group, and the physical and social confines of their community. The second part is devoted to “the general condition of Negroes” and contains information on age, gender, education, and means of earning a living. The third part focuses on the group life of the black community, including the number of blacks in Philadelphia and their family situations and secular and religious organizations. Here, Du Bois also presents information on social maladjustment and individual deprivation characterized by crime, pauperism, and alcoholism. Finally, Du Bois assesses the physical and social environment, references and analyzes interracial relationships, and offers advice and suggestions for social reform.

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