Black History Month is a time to celebrate African-American pioneers and the heroes of today who have had an impact on our world.
One person who successfully paved the way was William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, better known as W.E.B Du Bois. Du Bois was born Feb. 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Mass. While in high school he showed a concern for the development of his race. Du Bois was gifted intellectually and took considerable pride in surpassing his fellow students in academic and other pursuits.
After he graduated from high school he wanted to attend Harvard University. Since he couldn’t attend Harvard, he enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., to further his education. That was his first trip to the South. During his first three years at Fisk, his knowledge of the race problem became more definite. He saw discrimination in ways he never dreamed of, and he developed a determination to emancipate his people. After graduation from Fisk, he entered Harvard and earned a master’s degree and a doctoral degree.
With 26 years of schooling behind him, he accepted a teaching job at Wilberforce in Ohio at the going rate of $800 per year. He also conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had the opportunity to study blacks as a social system. He was subsequently acknowledged as the father of social science.
Du Bois published many books. He also did a lot of traveling, including going to France to represent the NAACP. Dubois died Aug. 27, 1963, in Accra, Ghana, on the eve of the March on Washington.
W.E.B. Du Bois was a legend who broke many barriers. He did things people thought he couldn’t do. He made something out of nothing and learned how not to give up.