1963 August 27

W. E. B. Du Bois, African-American Intellectual Giant, Dies

 

W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the greatest African-American intellectuals and civil rights leaders of the twentieth century, died on this day at the age of 95 in Accra, Ghana.

His most famous and influential writings include The Souls of Black Folk (1903) and Black Reconstruction in America (1935). He became editor of the NAACP’s magazine The Crisis on November 1, 1910, and continued as editor until 1933, making it the leading journal of the civil rights movement in those years.

Du Bois died one day before the famous March on Washington on August 28, 1963, and is buried in Accra.

Read: David Levering Lewis, W. E. B. DuBois: A Biography (2009)

Learn more about Du Bois’ life at History.com

Visit the W. E. B. Du Bois Homesite and National Historic Landmark in Great Barrington, Mass. (his birthplace): http://www.duboishomesite.org/

Learn more about Du Bois and the NAACP

Watch a short documentary on Du Bois’ important battle with Booker T. Washington: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xmnBAKnnww

Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here

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