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It is fitting that for the first profile of EngageDiversity we highlight W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963). DuBois was the first African-American to obtain a PhD from Harvard University. Due to racism and prejudice, DuBois was relegated to an instructor status while at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. Because of these acts of discrimination, DuBois is often placed in the category of a literary scholar. Still, DuBois did not let this stop him from conducting great sociological research. He is arguably the first scholar to conduct a large-scale qualitative ethnography. His classic books include The Souls of Black Folk and The Philadelphia Negro. Currently, the top award given by the American Sociological Association is duly named the W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award.

Two of DuBois’ most noted theories are the “double-consciousness” and the “Talented Tenth.” The “Talented Tenth” are members of the Black elite who are expected to sacrifice personal interests and endeavors to provide leadership and guidance to the Black community. “Double-consciousness” refers to the fact that individuals’ identities can be affected by their positions in different social worlds. For many African-Americans, there is often conflict between being American and being Black. DuBois states, The Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others. Such a double life, with double thoughts, double duties, and double social classes (DuBois 1903:2). Over one-hundred years later, a Black participant in a research study on high-status fraternity men echoes DuBois’ theoretical position. “They are not looking at us as individuals, or an individual organization, but as Blacks as a whole.” When asked who “they” are, he replied, “Everyone! The eyes are always watching.”

William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He died on August 27, 1963 in Accra, Ghana. The dates of his life span are quite intriguing. DuBois was born following the Civil War just after the end of slavery, and died in the wake of the Vietnam War, which was the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” DuBois received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1888 from Fisk University in Nashville, TN and a second B.A. from Harvard University in 1890. He received a Master of Arts degree from Harvard in 1892. After two years of studying at the University of Berlin in Germany, DuBois became the first African-American to obtain a PhD from Harvard in 1895. He was a Professor of Greek and Latin at Wilberforce University from 1894 to 1896 and an Assistant Instructor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1896 to 1897. DuBois, however, was barred from teaching classes at UPenn. He was mainly brought there to conduct a large-scale research study on the city of Philadelphia. Little would they know that this study would become one of the most noted sociological, theoretical, and methodological books in history—The Philadelphia Negro. At Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University), DuBois served as a Professor Economics and History from 1897-1910 and the Chair of the Sociology Department from 1934-1944. A great masterful writer, DuBois held journal editorships at The Moon, The Horizon, The Crisis, and The Phylon. As a founder of the NAACP, DuBois fought regularly against colonization, lynching, and acts of discrimination. As a world leader and first Secretary of the First Pan-African Congress, DuBois fought for women’s rights, Jewish rights, and workers’ rights. He was also a founder of the American Negro Academy and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., which is the first collegiate Black Greek organization. It is clear why the term scholar-activist is dubbed DuBoisian. DuBois is one of greatest sociologist, theorist, scholar, and activist this world has ever seen. EngageDiversity is proud to solute William Edward Burghardt DuBois.