1. African American Poetry January 22, 2013

2.  William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Mass.  His parents were Alfred and Silvina  Shortly after Du Bois’s birth his father left, leaving his mother to raise him in the New England area.

3.  In 1885, Du Bois won a scholarship to Fisk University, the country’s preeminent black University where he developed an interest in African American history.  He received a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University in 1885.  Du Bois’s travels to the South is where he first experienced Southern racism, which encompassed Jim Crow laws, bigotry, and lynchings.

4.  After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Fisk, Du Bois attended Harvard (which did not accept course credits from Fisk) from 1888- 1890.  In 1890, Harvard awarded Du Bois his second bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in history.

5.  In 1892, Du Bois attended the university of Berlin for graduate work.  After returning from Europe, Du Bois completed his graduate studies; in 1895 he was the first African American to earn a Ph. D from Harvard.

6.  Du Bois taught sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and economics and history at Atlanta University in Georgia.

7.  In 1909 Du Bois co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP; he severed as its director of publicity and research and the editor of its magazine, The Crisis.