Booker T. Washington, a founding father of African American education in the United States, has long been studied, revered, and reviled by scholars and students. Born into slavery, freed and raised in the Reconstruction South, and active in educational reform through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Washington sought to use…

Of all the honors and accolades bibliophile and noted authority on the Underground Railroad Charles Blockson has received, being bequeathed recently with some of Harriet Tubman's personal items by her great-niece is one of the most significant experiences of his life. A longtime collector of books and rare items by and about African-Americans,…

In the early 1900s, sociologist and civil-rights activist W.E.B. DuBois advocated the teaching of African-American studies in American schools. The goal was to teach a history and heritage that was being ignored, not just so blacks would better understand their own past, but so white society would be more respectful. But by 1968, when students…

W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the brightest lights in African American history, wrote a sparkling critique of the American social and economic system originally planned as part of the Bronze Booklets series, edited and published by Alain Locke and the Associates in Negro Folk Education. The piece was never published and has, until now, been lost to the…

This essay examines the college lives of two generations of Iowa's black college women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the experiences of black women at Iowa's private colleges and the University of Iowa (UI) from 1878 to 1928. The experiences of black women in Iowa's colleges and universities are important for…

Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Du Bois were two of the most prominent African-American educators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, they both envisioned a broad education tailored specifically to the critical intellectual and vocational needs of the entire black community. In this essay, the author examines common themes…

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were created to provide educational opportunities for African Americans when other higher education venues restricted their participation. HBCUs are credited with nurturing and producing leaders who embraced W. E. B. Du Bois's concept of the "Talented Tenth," and exhibiting fortitude in…

Proposes that a direct and authoritative challenge to the scientific racism of the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries was urgently needed, and was one of the leading rhetorical contributions of W.E.B. DuBois. Specifically examines three issues: social Darwinism, the eugenics movement, and psychologists' measurement of intelligence.…

In this article, the author traces the development of community colleges, from their ignominious beginnings in the middle of the 20th century to their current status as a valuable part of the higher education community. Likening this development to the progress made by the civil rights movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and…

The discourse on multicultural literature has focused on providing children of color opportunities to "see themselves" in the texts they read. Since the 1920s, advocates like W.E.B. DuBois have stressed that "visibility" in literature fosters positive psychological development among underrepresented groups of children, in…

Investigated whether the Talented Tenth (college-educated African Americans) currently engaged in community leadership activities related to W.E.B. Du Bois' charge to provide leadership for the masses. Data from the 1993 National Black Politics Study indicated that Talented Tenth members currently and significantly engaged in political and…

Looks at the backgrounds of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and their contributions to vocational education. (JOW)

This paper presents a biographical sketch of the prolific African-American writer and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, designed as an instructional unit in an introduction to mass communication course which can help make students aware of the roles played by ethnic minorities in shaping American and world media. The paper provides numerous details of…

Discusses the publications of W. E. B. Du Bois and lists them in the following categories: books, books containing short stories, poems, short fiction, and dramas. (GT)

Analyzes the writings and career of W.E.B. DuBois to reconstruct an historical exemplar for Black Studies. Emphasizes the diversity of the leader's thought and roles in relation to the various methodologies used in Black Studies. Argues that such "restoration" work is needed to facilitate further maturation of the discipline. (KH)