William E.B. Du Bois Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

DuBois (1868-1963), the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1895), helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1910). Though often at odds with the NAACP's leadership, he edited its journal, "Crisis", for 25 years. Challenging black leaders like Booker T. Washington, who favored integration and believed black political initiatives should be subordinated to economic betterment, DuBois championed Pan-African unity and black separatism. In 1961, DuBois moved to the newly independent West African nation of Ghana. Embittered by the slow pace of change in the U.S., he also joined the communist party shortly before his death. Among DuBois' major works were The Souls of Black Folk (1903), John Brown (1909) and Dusk of Dawn (1940).