Du Bois, W. E. B. (1868–1963)

African-American scholar and civil rights leader

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was one of the most important African-American leaders in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. He was a man of many talents who made significant contributions as a journalist, research scholar, sociologist, historian, novelist, pamphleteer, civil rights leader, and teacher. Among his many publications are sociological studies, ground-breaking histories of the slave trade and Reconstruction, a biography of John Brown, as well as fictional works such as Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911). Biographer David Levering Lewis characterizes Du Bois's life as a collective portrait of the African-American intelligentsia in the mid-twentieth century. It is almost impossible to undertake a study of African-Americans without encountering W. E. B. Du Bois's name at every turn.

Du Bois has been portrayed as an overconfident, uncompromising, and arrogant man, but he could also be modest and self-effacing. In his autobiography he publicly questioned his effectiveness as a leader. Nevertheless, Du Bois's leadership qualities are well documented. He was instrumental in the formation of the Niagara movement—an organization that was the precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was also a major promoter of the NAACP publication program and served as editor of its magazine, The Crisis, from 1910 to 1934. As editor of The Crisis, Du Bois exercised considerable influence on African-American politics and thought.

During a long (ninety-five years) and productive lifetime, Du Bois changed his opinions on issues of the day many times. A complex and unpredictable personality, he could appear as assertive, accommodative, practical, obtuse, an activist, a joiner, and a loner. Despite his many personal and intellectual inconsistencies, Du Bois's thoughts and actions were united by a single goal: to achieve what he saw as the betterment of all “people of color”—African-Americans and Africans alike.