On February 23, 1868, the famed African American sociologist, scholar, historian, journalist, and activist was born. To learn more about Mr. Du Bois, we dug into The New York Public Library's electronic resources to see what we could find. 

Youth

 

 

In The New York Public Library's Digital Collections, patrons will find an excellent selection of rare photographs of the famed activist. Not only are there photographs of Du Bois as a small child and young man, but you can view photographs of family members including his wife and child. You will also find photographs of Du Bois at work on The Crisis magazine and making various speaking engagements.

Scholarship

 

Du Bois highly valued education, and perhaps it was due to the emphasis on learning he experienced as a young man that encouraged his dedication to scholarship for the rest of his life. In the database, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, you can read a glowing article written about Du Bois after his graduation from high school. The letter states, "Du Bois is the youngest graduate of his class, being only six-teen. At the commencement he delivered an original oration on Wendall Phillips. The production was received by the intelligent audience with genuine appreciation, and was considered by many the best and most original production of the class."

In 1888 Du Bois enrolled in Harvard University, you can view his name in the Harvard student registry in the Ancestry Library Edition database. DuBois also received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1895 and published his doctoral thesis a year later, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, which you can read in its entirety in the HathiTrust Digital Library.

 

NAACP

One of Du Bois's most lasting legacies is his role as a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Patrons of The New York Public Library can access the NAACP Papers database, and read about Du Bois's involvement with the organization, including speeches and correspondence.

 

A major part of Du Bois's contribution to the NAACP is the founding and editing of the monthly magazine, The Crisis. You can read full issues of The Crisis in the African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 database. 

 

Ancestry Records

Even the most learned of men needs a vacation, and by searching the Ancestry Library Edition database, we know that Du Bois applied for a passport in 1915 to vacation in Jamaica. By exploring Ancestry Library Edition you can find Du Bois listed in multiple U.S. Censuses, and even find his father's, Alfred Du Bois, Civil War military records.

 

The New York Public Library provides a number of electronic resources to help you learn more about W.E.B. Du Bois. Explore the American National Biography database to get different detailed biographies of Du Bois. Du Bois was greatly influenced by the philosopher William James, and you can read all about him in the Philosophers Index with Full Text database. In 1926 Du Bois visited the Soviet Union and you can read about how this trip influenced him in the African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress, 1933-1947 database. The New York Public Library provides more than 500 online research options, many accessible from home with a library card, we challenge you to go beyond the search engine and dig deeper online with NYPL. 

RESOURCES

Holt, Thomas C. "Du Bois, W. E. B. (1868-1963), African-American activist, historian, and sociologist." American National Biography. 2000-02. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 Feb. 2018, 

"W. E. B. Du Bois." The American Mosaic: The African American Experience,  ABC-CLIO,  2018.  Date of access 22 Feb. 2018.