Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NHD Process Paper
NHD Process Paper
Du Bois
Senior Division
Group Website
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 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