Du Bois, W. E. B.

Robert W. Williams (Bennett College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

Born 23 Feb 1868
Died 27 Aug 1963
Activity 1895-1963

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States; Ghana

Cultural Identities

African American

Activities

Primary

Editor
Essayist
Novelist
Political writer
Reformer
Revolutionary, Activist
Sociologist

Other

Autobiographer
Poet

Resources

Du Bois' Works

Save to Bookshelf

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) championed civil and political rights for persons of colour – and arguably for all those desirous of justice, equality, peace, and solidarity with the human race. He attracted his share of controversy, for his views, expressed through bold activism and copious numbers of books, essays, and editorials, often ran counter to mainstream values and icons. Du Bois exerted a profound influence on the life and letters of the USA and beyond.

Du Bois was born on the 23 rd February 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to Mary Silvina Burghardt and Alfred Du Bois, and spent his childhood and early youth in that predominantly white New England town. His father left the family when Du Bois was about two years old and never returned, and to maintain the

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3218 words

Citation: Williams, Robert W.. "Du Bois, W. E. B.". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5933, accessed 23 November 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article