| W.E.B. DuBois by David Levering Lewis |
David Levering Lewis's W.E.B. Dubois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 and W.E.B. Dubois:
The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 is a two-volume biography of
W.E.B. Dubois that is a towering testament to the life and times of one of America's leading
intellectuals. A graduate of Harvard University (where he would be the first African American
to receive a doctorate of philosophy) Dubois, through his writings and speeches, had a
major role in how Americans think about themselves in relation to race. Through his
books, The Philadelphia Negro and The Souls of Black Folk, Dubois challenged stereotypical
images of African Americans, laying out an alternative to Booker T Washington's philosophy
of accommodation. With his book, Black Reconstruction in America (published in 1935),
Dubois shattered the myths of the period of reconstruction that had become entrenched in
American popular culture by the mid 20th century. He not only re-established African
Americans roles in American history, but also laid the groundwork for future historical
revisionism regarding roles that African Americans played in America's history.
Dubois was more than just a writer. He was an activist, founding the Niagara Movement,
an early and influential civil rights group, helping to found the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, and editing its journal, The Crisis for many years. For
Dubois, the struggle for human rights called for " ceaseless agitation and insistent demand
for equality" along with the "use of force of every sort: moral suasion, propaganda, and
where possible even physical resistance."
In his later years, Dubois would become increasingly more radical, distancing himself from the political mainstream. He spent his final days living in a self imposed exile in West Africa until his death, in 1963. As the biography shows, however, this did not diminish the influence that he had on the modern civil rights movement. David Levering Lewis's two volume biography offers a multifaceted portrait of a complex man, describing Dubois' life as an epic. Lewis' two volume biography, a masterful biography is an epic in itself. W.E.B. Dubois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 and W.E.B. Dubois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 are located on the basement level of the library at call numbers E 185.97.D73 L48 and E185.97.D73 L485x respectively. The Library also has The Philadelphia Negro (E185.97 W278), Black Reconstruction in America (E668 .D83), and The Souls of Black Folk (E185.5 .D81) all of which can be found on the basement level. The library also has collections of Dubois speeches and writings, and The Crisis on microfilm, from 1910 to 1963.
This Monthly Book Spotlight was written by Jonathan
Coe
Image credit: Library of Congress
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