Confronting a Nation of Discrimination: The Writings of W.E.B.

Du Bois

Srisa Changolkar, Billy Chen, Ziwen Hou, Yibin Tan

Senior Division

Group Website

Process Paper: 498 words

For our National History Day project, our group researched the writings of W.E.B. Du
Bois. We were originally introduced to this topic at the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American
Collection at Temple University, where we came across an edition of The Crisis, the magazine
that Du Bois chiefly edited while working at the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. Looking through the articles, we were impressed at how Du Bois fought against
racial discrimination. As we continued to conduct research on Du Bois, we began to see his
importance and influence in the struggle for African American civil rights, even though he died
before the significant Civil Rights Act of 1964.
We conducted much of our research as a group, visiting archives and libraries. At the
Temple University Blockson Collection, we found numerous editions of The Crisis, allowing us
to observe the ideas Du Bois was conveying to the public. At the University of Pennsylvania
Archives, we utilized newspaper clippings about responses to Du Bois' views. We found many of
his books in libraries, giving us insight to his thoughts and opinions. Especially helpful to us was
the University of Massachusetts Amherst online archives, which provided us with direct access
to primary sources relating to Du Bois. We have quoted these documents throughout the website,
as nothing can express the views of Du Bois better. Secondary sources helped us as well, such as
the biography on Du Bois by David Levering Lewis, and PBS. Both these sources gave an
analysis of topics linked with Du Bois.
We chose a website to communicate the importance of W.E.B. Du Bois, as a website is
the most interactive category, and allows for great creativity through a combination of text and
images. These three together form a medium able to express the significance of Du Bois. In
addition, the website would be accessible even after the end of National History Day as a

resource on Du Bois available to all. Lastly, a website is a great method of conveying

information, as it highlights important points.
Du Bois lobbied for immediate social and economic equality in the United States for
African Americans. He presented it as unjustifiable that blacks were still discriminated against
and denied their full rights as citizens even after the end of slavery. Representing the intellectual
population of African Americans, he exerted great influence on blacks through The Crisis and his
books. Ultimately, Du Bois works led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, where many of the
reforms he called for were implemented. The content on our website is organized according to
this years theme. Our main menu leads to Du Bois exploration of new ideas on race, his
encounters with response to his ideas, and his methods of exchanging ideas with the public and
their results. The pages are further divided to focus on specific topics within these categories,
highlighting the ways in which our topic may be analyzed in relation to exploration, encounter,
and exchange.