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DuBois (pronounced Dew Boys) was born in the village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts to Alfred and Mary DuBois. After graduating from Fisk University, he became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard. He travelled in Europe, and studied in Berlin. Following this, he spent many years studying the lives and situations of African Americans, applying social science to problems of race relations.
DuBois became one of the more notable political activists on behalf of African Americans. A contemporary of Booker T. Washington, he argued with the latter in print about African-American acceptance of issues such as segregation. In 1905, DuBois helped to found the Niagara Movement, and in 1909Events January 5 Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. January 16 Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. January 28 United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War. February 12 The National he helped to found the NAACPThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1909, to work on behalf of black people. Members of the NAACP have referre. In 1910, he left his teaching post at Atlanta University to work as publications director at the NAACP. He was editor-in-chief of The CrisisThe Crisis is the official magazine of the NAACP, and was founded by W. DuBois in 1910. External link . magazine, an NAACP-sponsored publication, for 25 years before resigning in June 1934. He wrote weekly columns in many newspapers, including the Chicago DefenderThe Chicago Defender was the United States’ most influential black weekly newspaper by the beginning of World War I. The Defender was founded on May 5, 1905 by Robert S. Abbott with an investment of 25 cents and a press run of 300 copies. The first issues, the Pittsburgh Courier , the New York Amsterdam News , and the San Francisco ChronicleThe San Francisco Chronicle the self-described "Voice of the West," is Northern California's largest newspaper. Serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area, it has a daily circulation of over 500,000. The paper has been owned by Hearst Communications, In.
DuBois was investigated by the FBI, who claimed in May of 1942 that "[h]is writing indicates him to be a socialist," and that he "has been called a Communist and at the same time criticized by the Communist Party." J. Edgar Hoover wrote a memo to the FBI on October 6, 1950 that while he is a "strong believer in free speech," a report of a speech made by DuBois seemed to be " subversive to a degree that makes [his] blood boil," and that he wishes the government "could squelch some of the people who are talking like this DuBois."
DuBois acted as chairman of the Peace Information Center when the Korean War started, where he fought for the outlawing of atomic weapons. He was subsequently indicted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act , but acquitted for lack of evidence. In his later years, W.E.B. DuBois became increasingly disillusioned with both black capitalism and the United States. He joined the Communist Party, USA in 1961 and agreed to announce this in the New York Times.
He was invited to Ghana in the same year by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana , a government production, and a long-held dream of his. Without giving up their U.S. citizenship, he and his wife, Shirley Graham DuBois ,(According to Encarta.msn.com Bois did give up his US citizenship because the US government would not renew his passport) became citizens of Ghana. DuBois' health declined in 1962, and on August 27, 1963 he died in Accra, Ghana at the age of 95.
In 1992, the United States honored W.E.B. DuBois with his portrait on a postage stamp. On October 5, 1994, the main library at UMass Amherst was named after him.