Du Bois, W. E. B.

Known as a sociologist, philosopher, historian, and activist, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was also one of the preeminent scholars of the 20th century whose work greatly influenced the field of education and curriculum studies. His polemics and lifelong advocacy of liberal, progressive, and reconstructionist views provided thoughtful critique as it deepened our collective understanding of school knowledge, race, and power for those working in the field of curriculum studies.

Du Bois entered Harvard University in 1888 as a junior. At Harvard, he earned a second BA and enrolled in graduate school, studying under legendary professors William James, Josiah Royce, and George Santayana. After receiving his master's degree in 1891, he studied at the University of Berlin and then returned to Cambridge to become the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard.

Leaving a professorship at Wilberforce University in Ohio, Du Bois moved to Atlanta University [Page 301]to teach economics and history, during which time he published in 1903 a compilation of unpublished papers titled The Souls of Black Folk. This work includes one of his most quoted statements that the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. In The Souls of Black Folk, he challenged Booker T. Washington, opposing accommodation, gradualism, and industrial education. He called instead for more liberal education and social agitation to break the bonds of racial oppression.

Du Bois helped organize the First Pan-African Congress and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His celebrated books on race issues include Dark Water: Voices From Within the Veil, Black Reconstruction in America, Black Folk Then and Now, Dusk of Dawn, and Color and Democracy. In 1940, he created Phylon, a journal of social science, published at Atlanta University. The indefatigable scholaractivist continued to develop his views, especially his critique of U.S. capitalism and racial inequality. Cold war politics and hysteria targeted Du Bois as he ran for public office and joined forces with the international peace movement.