Biography Essay

"Every intellectual," writes Ignazio Silone, "is a revolutionary," and though this may not be generally true, in the case of W. E. B. Du Bois, the observation is both accurate and fitting. The internationally known scholar and writer, born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of America's few Renaissance men, contributing to the artistic, social, literary, and political environment of his time as have few men before or since. His dedication to principle and unswerving devotion to truth for over fifty years earned him both the praise and scorn of his fellow countrymen, black and white. When he died on the eve of the March on Washington in 1963, he was lauded from the platform by the executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); yet in 1966 he was excoriated by soon-to-be-President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, because a group...