W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was a teacher, writer, sociologist and activist.

Du Bois attended the historically black university (HBCU), Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee. After he graduated from Fisk, Du Bois began attending Harvard University in 1888.

He taught classics at the first HBCU, Wilberforce University. Du Bois also taught at the University of Pennslvania and Atlanta University. His focus of teaching became sociology and from his studies, he wrote The Souls of Black Folks.

In 1909, Du Bois became one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He became the editor of the NAACP’s Crisis magazine, where he often wrote about issues that affected the African American community in the early 20th century.