W.E.B. Dubois

808 Words2 Pages

W.E.B. Dubois The great African American intellectual W.E.B. Dubois was born in the post-Civil War era. Being born at this time encouraged him to fight for equal rights for blacks. At this time, blacks were still suppressed very greatly. Dubois, having had lived in an all black community, experienced racism first-hand in the North (Donalson, 558). The hardships of the African American race led this man to be a great student, teacher, leader, and activist. Dubois even exemplified great intellect at a young age. When he was fifteen years old, he was a correspondent for the New York Globe (Hynes, 4). Dubois graduated high school early and attended Fisk College in Tennessee. Dubois had lived in the North all of his life so the extremity of racism was worse when he came to Tennessee (Donalson, 559). This apparently appalled him greatly. The racism still did not hinder him from getting his degree. After attending Fisk, he went to Harvard and received his master's degree. Then he went to the University of Berlin only to return to Harvard and receive his doctorate in 1891 (Hynes, 9). He was the first black to attend Harvard. Dubois had determination and intellect that allowed him to conquer this great feat. His doctoral dissertation, "The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States 1638 to 1870," earned the honor o... ... middle of paper ... ...frica. W.E.B. Dubois was a great intellectual who challenged blacks to stand up for their rights instead of begging for them. Works Cited Donalson, Melvin. Cornerstones: An Anthology of African-American Literature. New, York: St. Martin, 1996 Hynes, Gerald C. "A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. Dubois." W.E.B Dubois Learning Center. Online, Internet 2001 Available: http://www.duboislc.org Lewis, D.L. "Dubois, W.E.B." Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Internet 2004 Available: http://www.encyclopedia.com Salty's Stamps. "Celebrate the Century- W.E.B. Dubois" Salty's Stamps Online, Internet September 2002 Available: http://www.multirace.org Wager, Jennifer. "W.E.B. Dubois: Freedom Fighter." The W.E.B Dubois Virtual Library. Online, Internet 1994 Available: http://www.wc.pdx.edu

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