Who is W.E.B. Du Bois from Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education: A Biographical Introduction and what is their importance?

W.E.B. Du Bois was a famous scholar and activist for African American rights. His life coincided with the end of the Civil War all the way up to and through 1963 when he died at 95. William E. B. Du Bois lived from 1868-1963 and was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. William went to elementary school at age 6 and on to secondary school to excel in college preparatory courses, found an interest in history and was a popular and active student who graduated with high honors as the school's first African American graduate. He attended Fisk University and in 1888 was the sixth African American at Harvard where he completed his bachelors and graduate studies. He studied in Europe at Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm University but returned to Harvard to complete a doctorate. His scholarly research was used for the socio-economic improvement of African Americans. Du Bois believed higher education would lead African Americans from top down rather than bottom up like Booker T. Washington proposed.