“Well-documented and gracefully written, Alridge’s important work fills one of the remaining gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the intellectual legacy of the leading African American scholar-activist of the twentieth century.”
—From the Foreword by V.P. Franklin, University of California, Riverside

“This book offers a much-needed update to the enormous depth of DuBois’s educational philosophy. His educational vision was far beyond the debate with Booker T. Washington over curricular emphases. In this book, Alridge does a brilliant job in providing a broader and more balanced view of DuBois’s intellectual and educational thought.”
—Linda M. Perkins, Claremont Graduate University

“With this superb book, Derrick Alridge has re-centered the axes of historical debate and analysis in the fields of African American educational and intellectual history. It is a welcome addition to the literature in the fields of Du Boisian Studies, American intellectual history, and African American educational history.” —Larry L. Rowley, University of Michigan

This is the first published, comprehensive interpretation of Du Bois’s educational thought. Historian Derrick P. Alridge moves beyond the overly discussed “debates” between Booker T. Washington and Du Bois to provide fresh insights into Du Bois's educational thinking. He draws on a plethora of published and unpublished primary sources to illuminate Du Bois's educational thought on a wide variety of issues, such as women and education, black leadership, black identity, civil rights, black higher education, community education, and academic achievement. This incisive examination of Du Bois:

• Covers 70 years of Du Bois's life, from his graduation as the first black Ph.D. recipient at Harvard to his death in Ghana.
• Traces relationships with Booker T. Washington and other African American thinkers of his time.
• Shows how events, such as lynchings, Reconstruction policies, and Progressivism influenced Du Bois’s life and thinking.

Derrick P. Alridge is associate professor of education and affiliate associate professor in the Institute for African American Studies, the University of Georgia.