Request Material
W. E. B. Du Bois letter
Descriptive Summary | |
| Title: W. E. B. Du Bois letter | |
| Creator: Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963 | |
| Inclusive Dates: circa 1948-1956 | |
| Language(s): English | |
| Extent: 0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder) | |
| Collection Number: ms3835 | |
| Repository: Hargrett Library | |
Collection Description
Historical Note
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Massachusetts in 1868, the year Congress guaranteed male black suffrage. Du Bois was graduated from Fisk University and Harvard University and studied two years at the University of Berlin. He was the first black American to receive the degree of doctor of philosophy from Harvard.
Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement -- a group of African-American leaders committed to an active struggle for racial equality. Du Bois was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and edited its journal, Crisis, for many years.
A brilliant writer and speaker, Du Bois was the outstanding African-American intellectual of his time. His The Philadelphia Negro (1899) was the first sociological study of African-Americans. In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Du Bois took a forceful stand against Booker T. Washington's policy of accommodation, calling instead for "ceaseless agitation and insistent demand for equality," and the "use of force of every sort: moral suasion, propaganda, and where possible even physical resistance." -- Library of Congress American Memory Project, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/dubois.html (Retrieved January 2, 2014).
Scope and Content
The collection consists of a typed letter by W. E. B. Du Bois responding to questions about his work as a teacher and writer. Specifically, he discusses the importance of support from black colleges and universities in gaining recogntion, his ability to support himself financially through his teaching and writing, and he identifies what he considers his most important scholarly work. The letter is signed by Du Bois.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
W. E. B. Du Bois letter, ms 3835, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.
Finding Aid Publication
Finding aid prepared on: 2013.
Related Materials and Subjects
Subject Terms
Related Collections in this Repository
Related collections in other repositories include the W. E. B. Du Bois papers, ms 312, University of Massachusetts Amherst Librariaes.