The Niagara Movement: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to Alfred and Mary Silvina Du Bois. He identified himself as a “mulatto.” A mulatto is a person of mixed white and black ancestry. Du Bois had an almost peaceful childhood in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Du Bois lived in a small town of 5,000 people and his family lived in a community of only 50 blacks (WEB Dubois NAACP). His mother died soon after his high school graduation. His mother's death was a real setback for him just like would be for anyone else. After the death of his mother, some residents of the town gave Du Bois a scholarship as long as he attended Fisk University.

This school was founded for the children of emancipated slaves.

The Niagara Falls convention was a meeting that involved 29 men on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. This took place from July 11 until 14 July 1905. It was a 3 day conference that had discussed for full political, civil, and social rights for African Americans. The Niagara Movement was the first black protest movement of the twentieth century. Three years later Du Bois helped gather another movement in 1909 when he became the only black founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP was one of the most influential civil rights organization in the United States. During its early years of the NAACP, it focused on legal strategies designed to fix the critical civil rights issues that were occurring. What the NAACP does now is ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all people. It also eliminates race-based discrimination. W.E.B Du Bois was one of the most important Black protest leaders in the United States during the 20th century. From 1910 to 1934 Du Bois was the organization's director of publicity and research and editor of Crisis for the NAACP. This was the most important and famous journal directed at a black audience. Du Bois's popularity as a leader of black Americans began to decrease in 1918 with the publication of the editorial Close Ranks. This needed support for American involvement in World War I. His position in the NAACP also became weak and lost its importance. He was removed from the organization twice for ideological differences. The first was for opposing the NAACP's idea of integration, and the second was for supporting Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace for president in 1948 while the NAACP's executive secretary unofficially campaigned for Harry Truman. Although Du Bois was free and clear, his passport remained in the custody of the United States government. W.E.B Du Bois was later Awarded the