W. E. B. Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor. His collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, is a seminal work in African-American literature. His 1935 magnum opus, Black Reconstruction in America, challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era.

About W. E. B. Du Bois in brief

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor. His collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk, is a seminal work in African-American literature. His 1935 magnum opus, Black Reconstruction in America, challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era. His 1940 autobiography Dusk of Dawn is regarded in part as one of the first scientific treatises in the field of American sociology. The United States’ Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for whichDu Bois had campaigned his entire life, was enacted a year after his death. He was also an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. He believed that capitalism was a primary cause of racism, and he was generally sympathetic to socialist causes throughout his life. His maternal great-great-grandfather was Tom Burgharth, a slave who was held by the Dutch colonist Conraed Burghardedt. His son was the father of Othello Burghardson, who in turn was the husband of Mary Silvina Burgharson. His step-grandmother was Betsy Humphrey, who married Jonah Humphrey after her first husband, Jonah Humphreys, left the area after 1811. His great-grandson was Jack Freeman, who was 20 years older than William DuBois.

He claimed that Jack Freeman was his relative; he wrote that she had married his great- grandfather. No evidence of such a marriage has been found, and no record of a marriage between Jack Freeman and Betsy Humphreys has ever been found. His first wife died in 1811, and after her death, William Du Bo is believed to have taken up with his step-son’s first wife, who had been married to Jack Freeman for more than 30 years. He died in 1963, and was buried in Atlanta, Georgia, where he had been a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. He is survived by his wife, two children, and a step-daughter, who is married to the former mayor of Atlanta, Anne Burgharts. He also leaves behind a wife and a son, William Edward Dubois, Jr., who was a professor at the University of Georgia. His daughter, Anne, is the author of the book, The Soul’s Of Black Folk: A Biography Of A Sociologist, A Biographer, A Historian, A Social Commentator, A Poet, A Scholar, A Playwright and a Playwright. His grandson is the playwright and playwright, David Du Boi, who died in 2008. He had a son with the late actress and author, Mary Silvia Burghardingt, who he called his “sister-in-law,” and a daughter with whom he had an affair.

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