Research Paper On W. E. B. Dubois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, commonly known as W.E.B Du Bois, was a famous historian, essayist, and sociologist. In 1868, Du Bois was born February 23rd in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His contributions to the world through a sociological standpoint were: “his role as one of the early sociological pioneers, sociologist of race, and as a scholar- activist” ( sociology website ) Du Bois was a very intelligent man that attended college at Fisk. In 1888, Du bois earned his bachelor's degree. Though that was not enough, Du Bois later transferred to the college he had always wanted to attend, but could not afford at first: Harvard. There, he earned a second bachelor's degree where he later also earned his master’s three years later in
1891, Bois made history as he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in l895. Through 1892 and 1894, Du Bois was a graduate student at the University of Berlin. De Bois’ hunger for knowledge continued as he applied empirical research and concluded that the “result of social problems that affected the overall societal change because so little data had been collected in areas in which scholars allegedly knew so much”. Also, “Du Bois studied with some of the most prominent and famous social scientists of his time and was exposed to political perspectives that he kept and tried to influence others for the remainder of his life” ( ). This is an example of how social interaction through your friends and people that you meet have a big impact on our opinions and views about a particular subject. During the 20th century, Du Bois was known as the best candidate for the African-Americans’ voice for equality. Also, he became the co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
Du Bois was so dedicated to his work that he spent most of his time conducting “sociological investigations of blacks in America” ( ). Another accomplishment of Du Bois is that he “published his 1st case study on a black community—The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899)”. An interesting part of the study was the phrase "the talented tenth,". This term described the statistics of “one in 10 black men becoming leaders of their race”. Although Du Bois made many contributions to society, especially gaining rights of African Americans, he died years later in Ghana in 1963. Some of W.E.B. Du Bois’ books and articles are listed as follows: The Negro’ (1915), ‘Dark Princess’ (1928), ‘The World of Africa’ (1947) , The Black North: A Social Study (1901), Mixed Blood aided White Geniuses (1907), Remarks on Alabama (1930), Problems of Africa (1946), The Souls of Black Folk (1903) , ‘Dusk of Dawn: An Essay toward an Autobiography of a Race concept (1940), and Fifty Years among Black Folks (1909).Though W.E.B. Du Bois wrote many books and novels, his works and influences came to an end when he died in Ghana on August 27,
1963.
I chose to profile W.E.B Du Bois because I had learned some brief facts about him in my high school history class, and I was intrigued to discover more info particularly through a sociological standpoint. I was very impressed of how many degrees that Du Bois earned at various colleges. Also, I admire him for taking a stand and fighting for the rights of African Americans and co-founding the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 (NAACP). I admire Du Bois for his dedication and efforts for equality, and I am glad to see that African Americans still have their rights of equality. Without W.E.B Du Bois’ efforts, there is no telling how our social levels and standards would be set. He impacted not only African American’s lives, but also displayed how important equality is in the world.