Abstract: W. E. B. Du Bois (1868 - 1963) is perhaps the foremost scholar-activist in American history, and one who leaves a mighty legacy. He was the embodiment of the public intellectual leader, helping to establish the NAACP, editing The Crisis magazine for a quarter of a century, and campaigning for the cause of oppressed peoples throughout the world. As a scholar he pioneered the science of sociology, challenged and bested the prevailing racist historiographies of his time, and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the field of Black Studies. Both his public and his scholarly work endure, informing the ways we think about race and racism in our own time. This lecture will present a narrative of Du Bois's long and eventful life, showing how he turned a purely academic career into one which could encompass both scholarship and popular leadership. It will describe the ways his legacy lives on through the Du Bois Papers (housed at UMass Amherst), and how we can think with Du Bois through his writings about the most urgent contemporary issues. 

 

Speaker Bio: Adam Holmes is the Assistant Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst. He is responsible for the center's year-round calendar of public programs, communication and outreach, student engagement, and the annual cohort of visiting postdoctoral fellows. Adam regularly participates in panels and gives lectures at UMass and beyond on Du Bois's life and legacy. His own research focuses on Du Bois's lifelong work to combat and discredit racist distortions of American history - specifically the Lost Cause myth - both in academia and popular culture. Prior to joining the Du Bois Center in 2018, Adam worked on educational programs for the UK-based charity, the National Literacy Trust. He has degrees in History from the University of Manchester and American Studies from King's College London.