W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, author, editor, and activistwho was the most important Black protest leader in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. He shared in the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was an American historian, sociologist, and civil rights activist. After receiving a bachelor's degree from Fisk University in 1888, Du Bois entered Harvard College as a junior and received his second bachelor's degree in 1890. He completed his graduate work at Harvard in 1895, where he was the first African American to receive a PhD.
A number of collections in the Harvard University Archives include materials that relate to Du Bois’s student experiences at Harvard and his later career.