| dc.description.abstract | This paper has a two-fold purpose: to study W. E. B. Du Bois as a historian and to examine the effects his works have had in stimulating further research in black history. Modern critics have moderated earlier views stereotyping Du Bois as a radical black propagandist, yet his works only recently have been accorded a significant place among historical studies. In part this reluctance may be attributed to the influence of Negroness on the style and themes which set him apart from more traditional historians. As Du Bois was one of the earliest to deviate from the generally accepted techniques of historical research, it was thought useful to begin the paper with an introductory chapter reviewing some of the characteristics of Negritude. To explore further the circumstances which contributed to Du Bois' development as a historian, the second chapter describes the geographical and social climate in which he grew to adulthood. During these years he determined to pursue an academic career and to set a course which would ultimately assure him a position of leadership among his people. The next three chapters seek to demonstrate how his three major historical works, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States, John Brown, and Black Reconstruction in America, introduced new historical perspectives on the years between 1638 and 1880. Chapter VI analyzes Du Bois' three autobiographies, two novels, six shorter works, and selected essays, articles and editorials. These "nonhistorical" works reveal that most often he launched into discussions on racial issues from historical settings using examples from the past to promote his thesis. Verbose, romantic, idealistic, and at times satirical, Du Bois punctuated his history with poetry and parables. He struck out on a new path of historical study which has attracted others to the field and prompted young blacks to demand a closer look at who they are, where they have come from, and where they are going. Through editorials, lectures, participation in Pan African movements, and articles in periodicals, he made the black Man's plight an international is sue. The final chapter deals with Du Bois' political philosophy. By 1955 his name has become anathema to Americans who followed Senator Joe McCarthy's lead and labeled him an active Marxist and dangerous Communist. A study of his own comments on Socialism and Communism shows that Du Bois embraced political platforms only to the degree that they offered means whereby blacks might ameliorate their unhappy political and economic status. His loyalties changed from time to time as his programs for freedom and social justice were redirected to meet the demands of the moment. From this study Du Bois emerges as an articulate historian with incisive, penetrating comments on world social thought and action. While not always infallible in judgment and not always the most thorough researcher, he awakened blacks to the need for history written by blacks, the need for black studies, and the need to seek the roots of American Negro history in Africa. Since Du Bois' private papers are in the custody of historian Herbert Aptheker and are unavailable for research, the conclusions in this dissertation are based mainly upon an examination of his published works. It is fortunate that most of these have been reissued within the last decade. Secondary sources containing comments by scholars and critics were helpful in constructing an image of Du Bois as a historian. | |
