W. E. B. Du Bois, Civil Rights Activist

Du Bois with his first wife Nina, and daughter Yolande photographed in 1905. William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois (1868-1963) was an African-American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor. Du Bois grew up in a tolerant community and experienced little racism as a child. After graduating from Harvard (first African American to earn a doctorate) he became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Racism was the main target of Du Bois's polemics, and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. Du Bois was a prolific author. His collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, was a seminal work in African-American literature. He described himself as agnostic or a freethinker. He was an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. The Civil Rights Act was enacted a year after his death. He died in 1963 at the age of 95.

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