W.E.B. Du Bois Full Name: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois Birth Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts, US Birth and death years: Born on February 23, 1868, died on August 27, 1963 Highest level of education & institution: Ph.D. from Harvard University Major Published Works: Editor of The Crisis, founded the magazine Phylon, Published Preparatory Volume, and also published two significant books one known as “Black Reconstruction: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America”. Based on published works (Their scholarly interest in black history): Du Bois had spent significant amounts of time studying social science as his solution to solving racial problems. Due to the elevated racial violence at the time he changed his view, believing that social change can only be accomplished through “agitation and protest”. In addition to this in 1905, Du Bois “took the lead in founding the Niagara Movement.” Which is dedicated to attacking the platform of Booker T. Washington, which he believed was perpetuating racism. Major organization or institutional affiliation: Helped create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. In addition to being an editor for The Crisis, which was a quarterly magazine published by the NAACP it showed the danger of racial prejudice. How Might their work contributes to our knowledge and understanding of The Black Past: The Crisis which is considered one of the “oldest black publication” portrayed Du Bois's thoughts on his understanding of racism. Because of this, the crisis was used as a medium for many young black writers of the Harlem Renaissance. There are many writers who believe in Du Bois' work, as a result, we are able to understand what times were like in the past by seeing a similarity between the writers. Carter G. Woodson Full Name: Carter Godwin Woodson Birth Location: December 19, 1875, New Canton Virginia Birth and death years: Birth December 19, 1875, Death April 3, 1950 Highest level of education & institution: Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912 Major Published Works: The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861, A Century of Negro Migration, Mis-Education of the Negro. Based on published works (Their scholarly interest in black history): His introduction of Literature Week through his fraternity known as Omega Psi Phi, to honor Black achievements. Using that he furthered it through the Association for the Study of Negro Life (ASALH) to launch Negro History Week, which we know now as Black History Month. Major organization or institutional affiliation: His organization ASALH, which founded black history month. How Might their work contributes to our knowledge and understanding of The Black Past: The Education of the Negro prior to 1861, is an extremely useful source of what education was like in the past. By reading his works we can gain an understanding of how black people were educated and how that tied in with the time. John Hope Franklin Full Name: John Hope Franklin Birth Location: Rentiesville, Okala Us Birth and death years: Born, Jan 2, 1915, Died, March 2009 Highest level of education & institution: Ph.D. at Harvard University Major Published Works: From Slavery to Freedom, The Militant South, Reconstruction: After the Civil War, and The Emancipation Proclamation. Based on published works (Their scholarly interest in black history): Reconstruction: After The Civil War which was one of the many books he had written, had given reappraisal of the American civil war era. And the importance of the black struggle and how it’s shaped Americas identity Major organization or institutional affiliation: His affiliation in the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka which stopped public school segregation is remarkable. As well as a member of the American Historical Association and NAACP at different points of time respectively. How Might their work contributes to our knowledge and Understanding of The Black Past: Franklin's thirst for knowledge was encouraged by Currier, Theodore S. Currier a white chairman of his school's history department. Makes Franklin a synthesizer of black history, he was able to collect and study various kinds of literature and present them in a way that questions current establishments. Whether that was through his presence in law cases or through his book Reconstruction After the Civil War, helped us better understand the fallacies that existed at this time. Herbert Aptheker Full Name: Herbert Aptheker Birth Location: Brooklyn N.Y Birth and death years: July 31 1916 Brooklyn N.Y, Death March 17 2003 Mountain View California Highest level of education & institution: Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1943 Major Published Works: Editing of The Correspondence of W.E.B. Du Bois and A Documentary History of the Negro People In the United States Based on published works (Their scholarly interest in black history): In 1939 he published articles in the journals Science and Society and Journal of Negro History and was a regular contributor to the Negro Digest. In addition to his doctoral thesis American Negro Slave Revolts (1943). Major organization or institutional affiliation: He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, was an associate editor for Masses and Mainstream, and later in the future was an editor for political affairs. How Might their work contributes to our knowledge and understanding of The Black Past: His writings and pamphlets on black revolts from his texts such as African Americans during the Civil War and the American Revolution give us a view of what's happening in the military for African Americans. This is something that wasn’t talked about as much as the other topics, which expanded our understanding of what was going on during that time period. George Washington Williams Full Name: George Washington Williams Birth Location: Bedford Springs PA US Birth and death years: Born Oct 16, 1849, died Aug 2, 1891. Major Published Works: History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 and A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion 1880 Highest level of education & institution: Harvard University PH.D Based on published works (Their scholarly interest in black history): His book A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion which were oral histories from black Civil War veterans. Additionally, he would go on to Congo where he learned of the poor conditions and publish writing known as “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty, Leopold II, King of the Belgians”. His interest in problems that were outside of the US advances why he didn’t return to the united states after traveling. Major organization or institutional affiliation: His affiliation with congo free state as he wanted to employ black Americans. How Might their work contributes to our knowledge and understanding of The Black Past: Williams's travel left him with the knowledge that can’t be found only in the united states. His book A History of Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion shows an international struggle for what's going on for Black people. Which elevates our understanding of the conflicts that were being faced in that time period on a global scale. Sources Used (Only Enclyopedia) https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-E-B-Du-Bois https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Crisis-American-magazine https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carter-G-Woodson https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Hope-Franklin https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-us-biographies/john-hope-franklin https://www.britannica.com/topic/Communist-Party-of-the-United-States-of-America https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-andmaps/aptheker-herbert https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herbert-Aptheker https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Washington-Williams https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/williamsgeorge-washington Note to Teacher If there was any confusion on why the picks looked so random, I focused on people I didn’t know as much compared to the other scholars on the list.
