Ralph J. Bunche
Best Known For...
Ralph Bunche was a U.S. diplomat, a key member of the United Nations for more than two decades, and the winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for Peace.
Quick Facts
- OCCUPATION: Diplomat
- BIRTH DATE:August 07, 1904
- DEATH DATE:December 09, 1971
- EDUCATION: UCLA, Harvard University, Northwestern University, London School of Economics
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Detroit, Michigan
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York City, New York
Profile
Born on August 7, 1904, in Detroit, Michigan, Ralph Bunche served in the US War Department, the Office of Strategic Services, and the State Department during WWII. He also negotiated an armistice between Palestinians and Jews, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He worked on atomic energy issues and in the Congo with the UN and set up a department of political science at Howard University.
Source: Ralph Bunche. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 08:26, Feb 06, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-bunche-9231128.
Back To African American Pioneers
George Washington Carver
Best Known For...
George Washington Carver was a prominent African-American scientist and inventor. Carver is best known for the many uses he devised for the peanut.
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Diamond, Missouri, around 1864. The exact year and date of his birth are unknown. Carver went on to become one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. Carver devised over 100 products using one of these crops—the peanut—including dyes, plastics and gasoline. He died in 1943.
Quotes
"It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success."
– George Washington Carver
"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."
– George Washington Carver
"When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
– George Washington Carver
"Look about you. Take hold of the things that are here. Let them talk to you. You learn to talk to them."
– George Washington Carver
"It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success."
– George Washington Carver
Early Years
George Washington Carver was one of many children born to Mary and Giles, an enslaved couple owned by Moses Carver. He was born during the Civil War years, most likely in 1864. A week after his birth, George was kidnapped along with his sister and mother from the Carver farm by raiders from the neighboring state of Arkansas. The three were sold in Kentucky, and among them only the infant George was located by an agent of Moses Carver and returned to Missouri.
The conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 brought the end of slavery in Missouri. Moses Carver and his wife, Susan, decided to keep George and his brother James at their home after that time, raising and educating the two boys. Susan Carver taught George to read and write, since no local school would accept black students at the time.
The search for knowledge would remain a driving force for the rest of George’s life. As a young man, he left the Carver home to travel to a school for black children 10 miles away. It was at this point that the boy, who had always identified himself as “Carver’s George” first came to be known as “George Carver.” Carver attended a series of schools before receiving his diploma at Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.
Accepted to Highland College in Highland, Kansas, Carver was denied admittance once college administrators learned of his race. Instead of attending classes, he homesteaded a claim, where he conducted biological experiments and compiled a geological collection. While interested in science, Carver was also interested in the arts. In 1890, he began studying art and music at Simpson College in Iowa, developing his painting and drawing skills through sketches of botanical samples. His obvious aptitude for drawing the natural world prompted a teacher to suggest that Carver enroll in the botany program at the Iowa State Agricultural College. Carver moved to Ames and began his botanical studies the following year as the first black student at Iowa State.
George Washington Carver excelled in his studies. Upon completion of his Bachelor of Science degree, Carver’s professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel persuaded him to stay on for a master’s degree. His graduate studies included intensive work in plant pathology at the Iowa Experiment Station. In these years, Carver established his reputation as a brilliant botanist and began the work that he would pursue for the remainder of his career.
Tuskegee Institute
After graduating from Iowa State, Carver embarked on a career of teaching and research.
Booker T. Washington, the principal of the African-American Tuskegee Institute, hired Carver to run the school’s agricultural department in 1896. Washington lured the promising young botanist to the institute with a hefty salary and the promise of two rooms on campus, while most faculty members lived with a roommate. Carver’s special status stemmed from his accomplishments and reputation, as well as his degree from a prominent institution not normally open to black students.
Tuskegee’s agricultural department achieved national renown under Carver’s leadership, with a curriculum and a faculty that he helped to shape. Areas of research and training included methods of crop rotation and the development of alternative cash crops for farmers in areas heavily planted with cotton. This work helped struggling sharecroppers in the South, many of them former slaves now faced with necessary cultivation under harsh conditions, including the devastation of the boll weevil in 1892. The development of new crops and diversification of crop use helped to stabilize the livelihoods of these people who had backgrounds not unlike Carver’s own. The education of African-American students at Tuskegee contributed directly to the effort of economic stabilization among blacks. In addition to formal education in a traditional classroom setting, Carver pioneered a mobile classroom to bring his lessons to farmers. The classroom was known as a “Jesup wagon,” after New York financier and Tuskegee donor Morris Ketchum Jesup.
Rise to Prominence
Carver’s work at Tuskegee included groundbreaking research on plant biology that brought him to national prominence. Many of these early experiments focused on the development of new uses for crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pecans. The hundreds of products he invented included plastics, paints, dyes and even a kind of gasoline. In 1920, Carver delivered a speech before the Peanut Growers Association, attesting to the wide potential of peanuts. The following year, he testified before Congress in support of a tariff on imported peanuts. With the help of Carver’s testimony, the proponents of the tariff were able to institute it in 1922.
Carver’s prominence as a scientific expert made him one of the most famous African-Americans of his time, and one of the best-known African-American intellectuals up to that point. By the time of his testimony, however, Carver had already achieved international fame in political and professional circles. President Theodore Roosevelt admired his work and sought his advice on agricultural matters in the United States. Carver was also recognized abroad for his scientific expertise. In 1916, he was made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts—a rare honor for an American. Carver also advised Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi on matters of agriculture and nutrition.
George Washington Carver used his celebrity to promote scientific causes for the remainder of his life. He wrote a syndicated newspaper column and toured the nation, speaking on the importance of agricultural innovation, the achievements and example of Tuskegee, and the possibilities for racial harmony in the United States.
VIDEO: GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
Best Known For...
Synopsis
Born in New York City in 1924, Shirley Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and for seven terms represented New York State in the House. She ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972. Throughout her political career Chisholm fought for education opportunities and social justice. She left congress in 1983 to teach and lecture. She died in 2005.
Quotes
"Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth."
Profile
US representative and social activist. Born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924 in New York City. Chisholm spent part of her childhood in Barbados with her grandmother and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946. She began her career as a teacher and earned a Master's degree in elementary education from Columbia University. She served as director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959 as an educational consultant to New York City's Bureau of Child Welfare from 1959 to 1964.
In 1969, Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and began the first of seven terms. After initially being assigned to the House Forestry Committee, she shocked many by demanding reassignment. She was placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, eventually graduating to the Education and Labor Committee. She became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.
Chisholm became the first African American woman to make a bid to be President of the United States when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. A champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm was also a vocal opponent of the draft. After leaving Congress in 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke College and was popular on the lecture circuit.
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She wed Arthur Hardwick, Jr. in 1986. She is the author of two books, Unbought and Unbossed
(1970) and The Good Fight
(1973).
Best Known For...
Quick Facts
Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. He was an African-American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in "blood banks." He directed the blood plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in World War II, but resigned after a ruling that the blood of African Americans would be segregated. He died in 1950.
A pioneering African-American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. Drew grew up in Washington, D.C., as the oldest son of a carpet layer.
At McGill University, Drew quickly proved to be a top student. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in 1933, Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. He did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital. During this time, Drew studied with Dr. John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions.
After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States. He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in 1935. The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in addition to his work at the university.
Drew was only 45 years old at the time of his death, and it is remarkable how much he was able to accomplish in such a limited amount of time. As the Reverend Jerry Moore said at Drew's funeral, Drew had "a life which crowds into a handful of years' significance, so great, men will never be able to forget it."
Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard University and in 1895 became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. He wrote extensively and was the best known spokesperson for African American rights during the first half of the 20th century. He cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Quotes
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, known as W.E.B. Du Bois, was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. While growing up in a mostly European American town, he identified himself as "mulatto," but freely attended school with whites and was enthusiastically supported in his academic studies by his white teachers. In 1885, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Fisk University. It was there that he first encountered Jim Crow laws. For the first time, he began analyzing the deep troubles of American racism.
After earning his bachelor's degree at Fisk, Du Bois entered Harvard University. He paid his way with money from summer jobs, scholarships and loans from friends. After completing his master's degree, he was selected for a study-abroad program at the University of Berlin. While a pupil in Germany, he studied with some of the most prominent social scientists of his day and was exposed to political perspectives that he touted for the remainder of his life. In 1895, he became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University.
Source: W.E.B. Du Bois. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:47, Feb 07, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/web-du-bois-9279924.
Source: George Washington Carver. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:19, Feb 05, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-carver-9240299.
Shirley Chisholm
Best Known For...
Shirley Chisholm was the first black congresswoman, and the first African-American woman to make a bid for the U.S. Presidency.
Synopsis
Born in New York City in 1924, Shirley Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and for seven terms represented New York State in the House. She ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972. Throughout her political career Chisholm fought for education opportunities and social justice. She left congress in 1983 to teach and lecture. She died in 2005.
Quotes
"Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth."
– Shirley Chisholm
Profile
US representative and social activist. Born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924 in New York City. Chisholm spent part of her childhood in Barbados with her grandmother and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946. She began her career as a teacher and earned a Master's degree in elementary education from Columbia University. She served as director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959 as an educational consultant to New York City's Bureau of Child Welfare from 1959 to 1964.
In 1969, Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and began the first of seven terms. After initially being assigned to the House Forestry Committee, she shocked many by demanding reassignment. She was placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, eventually graduating to the Education and Labor Committee. She became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.
Chisholm became the first African American woman to make a bid to be President of the United States when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. A champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm was also a vocal opponent of the draft. After leaving Congress in 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke College and was popular on the lecture circuit.
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She wed Arthur Hardwick, Jr. in 1986. She is the author of two books, Unbought and Unbossed
(1970) and The Good Fight (1973).
Source: Shirley Chisholm. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:46, Feb 05, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-chisholm-9247015.
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MARTIN R. DELANY
Martin Robison Delany was born on May 6, 1812 in Charles Town, Virginia. He died on January 24, 1885 and lies buried at Massie's Creek Cemetery just over two miles from Wilberforce (Xenia), Ohio, where he and his son Toussaint resided. Delany was an ardent Abolitionist, physician and editor of the Mystery, a pre-Civil War journal. Delany most widely known for his avowal of black nationalism and race pride which anticipated similar expressions among African Americans from Marcus Garvey to Malcolm X in contemporary times.
Delany's family moved to Pennsylvania when Martin was a child in search of a better place to educate their children,. At 19, he found work in Pittsburgh and studied at night at an African American church. In Pittsburgh, Delany embarked on a course of militant opposition to slavery. This attitude caused him to become involved in several African redemption organizations and he began publishing the Mystery, a weekly newspaper. In this publication Delany publicized the grievances of African Americans in the United States and addressed issues concerning the rights of women.
With the assistance of two white physicians, he demonstrated competence as a doctor's assistant. In 1839, while working in the South and Southwest, Delany became skilled in the delivery of dental care. With these experiences behind him, he decided to pursue formal medical studies; and became one of the first Africans in America to be admitted to the Harvard Medical School. Upon graduation he became a leading Pittsburgh physician. From 1846 to 1849 he worked with the Abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass in Rochester, NY, where they collaborated in publishing another weekly, The North Star.
In the 1850s Delany developed an interest in emigration opportunities in South America, Haiti and Africa. In furtherance of this interest, he led in 1859-60 an exploration party to West Africa to investigate the Niger Delta as a location for African repatriation. See the excerpts below from his "REPORT OF THE NIGER VALLEY EXPLORING PARTY: A Treaty Made, Granted, and Assigned at Abbeokuta, Nigeria."
In protest against oppressive conditions in the United States, Delany moved in 1856 to Canada, where he continued his medical practice. At the beginning of the Civil War (1861-65), he returned to the U.S. and Wilberforce (Xenia), Ohio, where he and his son Toussaint helped recruit volunteers for the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteers. Toussaint Delany later fought in the 54th. This regiment's heroic exploits were dramatized in the film "Glory." Delany served the 54th Massachusetts Regiment as a surgeon.
After stubbornly refusing to welcome African volunteers into the Union Army, Abraham Lincoln relaxed, in 1863, his anti-African or unbridled white supremacy stance in order to counter a desperate Confederate plan to impress its enslaved Africans into its military forces. After meeting with Abraham Lincoln, Delany was made, late in the war, in February 1865, Major of the "U.S. Colored troops" -- the first African field grade officer with a regular army commission. Delany was assigned to Hilton Head Island, S.C., to recruit and organize former slaves for the Union Army. When peace came in April, he became an official in the Freedmen's Bureau, serving for the next two years.
In 1874 Delany ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor as an Independent Republican in South Carolina; his bid for public office was unsuccessful, however. Delany is among other things the author of The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States Politically Considered (1852) and Blake or the Huts of America (1859). The hero of this novel, Blake, is a West Indian who travels throughout the South advocating revolution, and later becomes a general of an African insurrectionary force in Cuba. Blake hopes that, with a victorious insurrection in Cuba and the expulsion of all Americans, Cuba's model African state will lead to the downfall of slavery in the United States. Martin R. Delany also wrote Principia of Ethnology: The Origin of Races and Color (republished in 1980) and authored with Robert Campbell, his assistant commissioner, the full account on their exploration of the Niger River valley. This account was republished in Search for a Place: Black Separatism and Africa, 1860 (1969).
Wilberforce residents Martin R. Delany and his son Toussaint were among the roughly 179,000+ Black men who fought in the Union Army. Major M.R. Delany, the highest ranking African officer in the Civil War, is buried at Massie's Creek Cemetery: "Though one of the most celebrated men of his time, and considered among the great American leaders for all time, he has only a simple government-issued headstone imprinted with his name misspelled to mark his final resting place."
Benjamin O. Davis Sr.
Best Known For...
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the US Army, after starting as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War.
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the US Army, after starting as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War. Following many years of service he became an adviser for the military on racial discrimination, pushing for full integration of the armed forces. He earned a Bronze Star Medal and Distinguished Service Medal.
U.S. Army general, soldier. Born on July 1, 1877, in Washington, D.C. Breaking new ground, Davis became the first African American general in the United States Army. He began his military career as a volunteer during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Receiving his commission in 1901, Davis was made a second lieutenant in the regular army. Despite the widespread prejudice against African Americans, he rose up the ranks, becoming a brigadier general in 1940.
During his decades of military service, Davis spent much of his time teaching others as a professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University in Ohio and the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He also served tours of duty around the world, including in the Philippines and Liberia. During World War II, he held many posts, including assistant to the Inspector General. One of his most crucial roles at this time was an adviser on African American issues in Europe. Many black soldiers were upset by the discrimination they encountered from white soldiers and by their exclusion from combat duty. A well-regarded military officer and an important member of the black community, Davis offered his advice and counsel how to improve this tense situation and lobbied for a full integration of U.S. troops. The army agreed a limited integration of the forces in Europe.
Leaving the military in 1948, Davis had spent fifty years serving his country. During his exemplary career, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal. Davis died of leukemia on November 26, 1970. Twice married, he had three children. His son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., followed his father's footsteps, also becoming a general in the U.S. Army.
Source: Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:53, Feb 07, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-o-davis-sr-9267726.
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Best Known For...
Pilot and officer Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. was the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force.
- NAME: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
- OCCUPATION: General, Pilot
- BIRTH DATE: December 18, 1912
- DEATH DATE: July 04, 2002
- EDUCATION: University of Chicago, United States Military Academy
- PLACE OF BIRTH: D.C.
- PLACE OF DEATH: D.C.
As the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force, pilot and officer Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. received many military honors. He later worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation and devised measures that ended a wave of aircraft hijackings.
Source: Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:05, Feb 07, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-o-davis-jr-37840.
Charles R. Drew
Best Known For...
Charles Drew was an African-American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion.
Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. He was an African-American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in "blood banks." He directed the blood plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in World War II, but resigned after a ruling that the blood of African Americans would be segregated. He died in 1950.
A pioneering African-American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. Drew grew up in Washington, D.C., as the oldest son of a carpet layer.
In his youth, Drew showed great athletic talent. He won several medals for swimming in his elementary years, and later branched out to football, basketball and other sports. After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1922, Drew went to Amherst College on a sports scholarship. There, he distinguished himself on the track and football teams.
Drew completed his bachelor's degree at Amherst in 1926, but didn't have enough money to pursue his dream of attending medical school. He worked as a biology instructor and a coach for Morgan College, now Morgan State University, in Baltimore for two years. In 1928, he applied to medical schools and enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
At McGill University, Drew quickly proved to be a top student. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in 1933, Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. He did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital. During this time, Drew studied with Dr. John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions.
After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States. He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in 1935. The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in addition to his work at the university.
In 1938, Drew received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time. He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African American to earn this degree from Columbia.
As World War II raged in Europe, Drew was asked to head up a special medical effort known as "Blood for Britain." He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma from several New York hospitals, and the shipments of these life-saving materials overseas to treat causalities in the war. According to one report, Drew helped collect roughly 14,500 pints of plasma.
In 1941, Drew worked on another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. He worked on developing a blood bank to be used for U.S. military personnel. But not long into his tenure there, Drew became frustrated with the military's request for segregating the blood donated by African Americans. At first, the military did not want to use blood from African Americans, but they later said it could only be used for African-American soldiers. Drew was outraged by this racist policy, and resigned his post after only a few months.
After creating two of the first blood banks, Drew returned to Howard University in 1941. He served as a professor there, heading up the university's department of surgery. He also became the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital. Later that year, he became the first African-American examiner for the American Board of Surgery.
In 1944, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored Drew with its 1943 Spingarn Medal for "the highest and noblest achievement" by an African American "during the preceding year or years." The award was given in recognition of Drew's blood plasma collection and distribution efforts.
For the final years of his life, Drew remained an active and highly regarded medical professional. He continued to serve as the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital and a professor at Howard University. On April 1, 1950, Drew and three other physicians attended a medical conference at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Drew was behind the wheel when his vehicle crashed near Burlington, South Carolina. His passengers survived, but Drew later succumbed to his injuries. He left behind his wife, Minnie, and their four children.
Drew was only 45 years old at the time of his death, and it is remarkable how much he was able to accomplish in such a limited amount of time. As the Reverend Jerry Moore said at Drew's funeral, Drew had "a life which crowds into a handful of years' significance, so great, men will never be able to forget it."
Since his passing, Drew has received countless posthumous honors. He was featured in the United States Postal Service's Great Americans stamp series in 1981, and his name appears on educational institutions across the country.
Source: Charles Richard Drew. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:27, Feb 07, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/charles-drew-9279094.
W.E.B. Du Bois
Best Known For...
W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most important African American activists during the first half of the 20th century. He co-founded the NAACP and supported Pan Africanism.
Scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard University and in 1895 became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. He wrote extensively and was the best known spokesperson for African American rights during the first half of the 20th century. He cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Quotes
"There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know."
– W.E.B. Du Bois
"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression."
– W.E.B. Du Bois
"To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships."
– W.E.B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, known as W.E.B. Du Bois, was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. While growing up in a mostly European American town, he identified himself as "mulatto," but freely attended school with whites and was enthusiastically supported in his academic studies by his white teachers. In 1885, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Fisk University. It was there that he first encountered Jim Crow laws. For the first time, he began analyzing the deep troubles of American racism.
After earning his bachelor's degree at Fisk, Du Bois entered Harvard University. He paid his way with money from summer jobs, scholarships and loans from friends. After completing his master's degree, he was selected for a study-abroad program at the University of Berlin. While a pupil in Germany, he studied with some of the most prominent social scientists of his day and was exposed to political perspectives that he touted for the remainder of his life. In 1895, he became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University.
A year later, Du Bois published his landmark study, The Philadelphia Negro, marking the beginning of his expansive writing career. In the study, he coined the phrase "the talented tenth," a term that described the likelihood of one in 10 black men becoming leaders of their race. While working as a professor at Atlanta University, Du Bois rose to national prominence when he very publicly opposed Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise," an agreement that asserted that vocational education for blacks was more valuable to them than social advantages like higher education or political office. Du Bois fought what he believed was an inferior strategy and became the spokesperson for full and equal rights in every realm of a person's life.
In 1903, he published his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, a collection of 14 essays. In the years following, he adamantly opposed the idea of biological white superiority and vocally supported women's rights. In 1909, he co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as the editor of the association's monthly magazine, The Crisis.
Du Bois was a proponent of Pan Africanism and helped organize several Pan African Congresses to free African colonies from European powers. He died on August 27, 1963, at the age of 95 in Accra, Ghana, while working on an encyclopedia of the African Diaspora.
Source: W.E.B. Du Bois. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:47, Feb 07, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/web-du-bois-9279924.
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