W.E.B. Du Bois poses for a portait on May 31, 1919. (<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a forward-thinking scholar whose intellect and writings bravely challenged America\u2019s racial hierarchy. As Harvard\u2019s first African American Ph.D. graduate in 1895, he established himself as an undeniable intellectual force during an era when segregation defined American society.<\/p>\n
Du Bois began publishing scholarly work in 1896 and soon became renowned<\/a> for his distinct writing style, which spanned multiple genres, including scholarly monographs, essays, autobiography<\/a>, fiction and poetry<\/a>. On February 12, 1909, Du Bois helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as editor of its influential magazine, The Crisis, for over two decades, using this platform to publish important journalism, critique racial injustice and elevate Black literary talent during the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, Du Bois remains one of the most influential Black intellectuals<\/a> in history. His scholarly precision and moral urgency continue to shape our understanding of race, power and identity in American society.<\/p>\n Top Books Written By W.E.B. Du Bois<\/p>\n During his lifetime, Du Bois published 21 books and several journals. His seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), introduced \u201cdouble consciousness,\u201d an idea that articulated the “split” nature of Black American identity in a predominantly white and racially segregated America. This concept, along with his critique of Booker T. Washington\u2019s accommodationist approach, helped to establish him as a leading voice on race in America. Below are five of his must-reads, selected for their relevance and sociological impact.<\/p>\n 1. The Souls of Black Folk (1903)<\/p>\n In the first chapter, \u201cOf Our Spiritual Strivings,\u201d Du Bois introduces the idea of \u201cdouble consciousness,\u201d which he describes as the \u201csense of always looking at one\u2019s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one\u2019s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.\u201d The concept goes beyond academic speculation to offer a credible explanation for how Black Americans reconcile the tension between their self-perception and the distorted images imposed by a white supremacist society. This explanation continues to carry a lot of weight in present-day discussions around how racial identity presents itself within American society.<\/p>\n Arthur E. McFarlane II, the great-granson of the African-American hero\u2014civil rights pioneer W.E.B. … More DuBois reaches for “The Souls of Black Folk” one of the collection of DuBois books in his home.<\/p>\n Denver Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n The Souls of Black Folk is generally considered one of the earliest works of sociology and uses both history and memoir to analyze and then expose the contradictions of post-Reconstruction America. The narrative structure of the book is sharpened with scholarly analysis and lyrical meditation, with each chapter containing paired epigraphs: one from canonical Western literature and the other a bar from Negro spirituals (which Du Bois called \u201csorrow songs\u201d). In the third chapter titled \u201cOf Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,\u201d the scholar presents a measured critique of Washington\u2019s accommodationist philosophy while also voicing his concerns about Washington\u2019s philosophy. Here, Du Bois firmly asserts that Washington\u2019s philosophy would do nothing more than harm Black people in the long run and keep them in a constant state of subservience and deference to white supremacy.<\/p>\n Who should read this?<\/strong>: Anyone interested in Black American history, race relations and the convoluted nature of Black experiences and identities in America.<\/p>\n Where to buy this book<\/strong>: <\/strong>Simon & Schuster<\/a><\/p>\n W.E.B. Dubois, with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and Lincoln University President Dr. Horace Mann Bond, … More after receiving the University’s Alpha Medallion Awards.<\/p>\n Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n 2. Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 (1935)<\/p>\n In Black Reconstruction in America, W.E.B. Du Bois delivers a magisterial reassessment of the post-Civil War era that essentially disassembles the racist historiography that dominated American academic discourse for generations. Published in 1935 and during the Jim Crow era and resurgent white nationalism, this 768-page opus represents both rigorous historical scholarship and an act of intellectual defiance. Du Bois begins by framing the Civil War as fundamentally about slavery rather than states\u2019 rights, a perspective that is now accepted but was initially controversial. Du Bois also discusses how four million freed people became active pioneers of democracy rather than passive recipients of Northern benevolence. His exceptional research here is both thought-provoking and important.<\/p>\n Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the … More organization’s 20th Annual Session in Cleveland, Ohio, June 26, 1929. Pictured sitting are NAACP staff including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, William Pickens, Arthur Spingarn, Daisy Lampkin, and Robert Bagnall.<\/p>\n Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n He also discusses the idea of the \u201cgeneral strike,\u201d which is a reinterpretation of the mass enslaved people\u2019s flight to Union lines as a deliberate political action that sabotaged the Confederacy’s war effort. One of the most radical concepts in this book is Du Bois\u2019s rendering of the postwar period. Where the then-dominant Dunning School historians saw tragic chaos and Negro incapacity, Du Bois demonstrates that this was an exceptional democratic experiment. Thanks to his archival-style research, Du Bois shows readers how Black legislators established the South’s first public education systems, expanded voting rights and modernized state constitutions. These achievements, Du Bois demonstrates, were systematically erased from historical memory through what he terms \u201cpropaganda posing as history.\u201d<\/p>\n Who should read this?:<\/strong> Historians, scholars and serious readers who are interested in historical revisionism.<\/p>\n Where to buy this book:<\/strong> Labyrinth Books<\/a><\/p>\n 3. The Philadelphia Negro (1899)<\/p>\n The Philadelphia Negro is credited with being the first sociological case study of a Black American community. In this University of Pennsylvania-commissioned study, Du Bois combines rigorous empirical research with compassionate observation to study the lives, struggles and social structures of Philadelphia\u2019s Black community, all while establishing urban ethnography as a legitimate academic field. Du Bois conducted this research while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, where he interviewed thousands of Black Philadelphians in the Seventh Ward. The resulting work provides unprecedented demographic data alongside nuanced analysis of the community\u2019s social stratification, economic conditions and the systemic barriers that discrimination creates. His methodology was pioneering as he used door-to-door surveys, statistical analysis and participant observation decades before these research practices became standard. The book denies popular ideas that Black poverty is a consequence of moral failure or inferiority; instead, it outlines the impact of structural racism, limited opportunities and systemic roadblocks that the average Black person experiences as a cause.<\/p>\n Who should read this?:<\/strong> Sociologists, urban historians and students of research methodology.<\/p>\n Where to buy this book:<\/strong> University of Pennsylvania Press<\/a><\/p>\n 4. Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920)<\/p>\n This future-facing collection uses autobiographical essays, poems, short stories<\/a> and sociological analyses to create a vignette of Black life during World War I and its aftermath. It is one of the most revealing pieces of evidence regarding Du Bois\u2019s evolving radicalism and global perspective. Du Bois wrote the book during the violent \u201cRed Summer\u201d of 1919, and it has since come to represent his most experimental and politically radical body of work. He also wrote a powerful essay called \u201cReturning Soldiers\u201d in May of that year. A major theme of this work is the emphasis and study of labor, and he examines this by looking at the connections between racism, capitalism and imperialism while expanding his analysis to include gender through essays like \u201cThe Damnation of Women.\u201d In that essay, he validates the roles of women in society, inside the home, at work and in the Black church in a way that reads as feminist for its era. Du Bois acknowledges the double burden faced by Black women who have to endure both racial and gender oppression by arguing that \u201cthe uplift of women is, next to the problem of the color line and the peace movement, our greatest modern cause.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. W.E.B. DuBois speaking at the World Peace Conference.<\/p>\n Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n He basically critiques how white supremacy and patriarchy have denied Black women economic independence, educational opportunities and political voice while celebrating their grit and central role in community preservation. Another aspect of this book that was ahead of its time is Du Bois\u2019s insistence that sexual autonomy for women is important for their freedom. By asserting this, he challenged Victorian ideas of propriety that constrained discourse around gender. This proto-intersectional analysis anticipated feminist theoretical frameworks by decades while also proving yet again that Du Bois had never-before-seen intellectual foresight for his time and understood social justice through the lens of several overlapping systems of oppression.<\/p>\n Who should read this?:<\/strong> Readers interested in Black radicalism, intersectionality and literary innovation.<\/p>\n