Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880

W. E. B. Du Bois was a groundbreaking African-American scholar, historian, and civil rights activist. Born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, he was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. In 1909, he co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which became a leading force in the fight for racial equality.Du Bois introduced enduring concepts like "double consciousness" in The Souls of Black Folk, shaping discussions on race and identity. He championed Pan-Africanism, organizing global efforts for African unity and independence. His writings and activism deeply influenced the civil rights movement.Later in life, Du Bois became disillusioned with the United States' treatment of African Americans. In 1961, he moved to Ghana at the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah, becoming a Ghanaian citizen. He spent his final years contributing to the Encyclopedia Africana, passing away in 1963, leaving a legacy of scholarship and activism.

David Levering Lewis is University Professor at New York University and a former president of the Society of American Historians. His work reflects the mutual dependence of African and African American history, as well as the utility of biography in the exploration of American race, class, and politics. He is the recipient of fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Winner of the Bancroft Prize, the Parkman Prize, and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, his two volumes on the life of W. E. B. Du Bois won the Pulitzer Prize, the only time in the history of the award that both volumes of a biography have won. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, his M.A. from Columbia University, and his B.A. from Fisk University.