W. E. B. Du Bois

Civil Rights Activists

February 23, 1868 Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States

August 27, 1963 Accra, Ghana

Nina Gomer Du Bois, Shirley Graham Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist and civil rights activist who rose to prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement. One of the most significant African-American activists during the first half of the 20th century, he was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, as a boy of mixed racial heritage, he grew up in a relatively tolerant community and attended school with white children and received considerable support from white teachers. A good student, he performed well academically and went on to pursue higher education from the University of Berlin and Harvard, and became the first African American to earn a doctorate. He accepted a teaching job at Wilberforce University in Ohio and developed a keen interest in sociology. He conducted research on the treatment of blacks in the America and published the first case study of a black community in the United States. He soon ventured into civil rights activism and went on to become the leader of the Niagara Movement, campaigning for equal rights for blacks. As an activist, he also played a prominent part in the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became the association’s director of research and editor of its magazine, ‘The Crisis’.