In commemoration of African American history month, John E. Douglass, Ph.D, RWC Associate Professor of History, recently hosted a forum discussing the life of W.E.B. Dubois and his book “The Souls of Black Folk.” After reading passages from the book, Dr. Douglass opened the floor for questions and discussed the difference between W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington. W.E.B. DuBois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was the son of slaves and felt a great need to advance the standard of living for black people. After high school, he attended Fisk University and received his master’s degree from Harvard.
DuBois was a well traveled man who took trips to Europe and Africa. He saw that blacks in America needed more organization and help put together the NAACP (National Association For the Advancement of Colored People). He also founded “The Crisis” magazine which he autocratically governed as its editor-in-chief for some twenty-five years.
DuBois loved Africa so much that he moved to Ghana. The President of Ghana, Kwame Nkruma, who became a good friend of DuBois from previous trips to his country, welcomed him and made him an official citizen of Ghana, where DuBois lived the last days of his life.