surname to disassociate from Greener after he left his family & started a new 1 w/ a Japanese woman. Read about Belle da Costa Greene here: https://bit.ly/2HgHGi4 and here: https://bit.ly/2P0Vthl After returning to the US, Greener retired &settled in Chicago near relatives. 9/
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degree from Brown Uni. Gilbert was born to slaves but was able to receive partial education in early life. After finishing public school, he enrolled in the Augusta Institute (a predecessor of Morehouse College), & then by 21-yrs-old, he enrolled at Paine Institute which 2/10
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was established as an “interracial” endeavor. Gilbert, a gifted student, received financial assistance to transfer to Brown. He was among the first 10 Black students to attend the school. While at Brown, Gilbert won a scholarship to attend the American School of Classical 3/10pic.twitter.com/lawPGvpafe
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Studies in Greece. He was the 1st & only African American to attend that school until 1901. Gilbert excelled at Greek & conducted many archaeological excavations. Gilbert earned his MA for his work in Greece, but his thesis is now lost. Gilbert was gifted w/ languages, & upon 4/
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his return to the US he taught Greek, French, German, Latin & Hebrew at Paine College. As the 1st Black faculty member he was ostracized &his position caused an uproar by wyte faculty members. His high standards were exacting & he expected a lot from his students, but this 5/10
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ensured excellence. Gilbert’s Christian faith informed much of his career &goals. In 1911-12 he travelled as a missionary to the Belgian Congo w/ a wyte bishop, Walter Russell Lambuth. It would be romanticizing Gilbert’s life if his mission work was not discussed in terms of 6/10pic.twitter.com/OG3vnEJALm
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wyte supremacy. Altho he was a pioneer in archaeology & classics, his religion & education gave him a complicated view of the world. His fields of expertise were (&still are in many ways) for wyte people. His mission work in the Belgian Congo participated in colonization & 7/10
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erasing the history &culture of tribal locals. One of the positives that came out of his mission trip was that he compiled a vocab & grammar book for Tetela, the language spoken in the area where the mission work was being carried out. This complex telationship w/ both his 8/10
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faith & his missionary partner are part of what makes Gilbert an important figure. We can't omit that from his bio. He had to straddle the world of wyte ppl & earned his place to work among them which furthered our understanding of ‘western civilization.' They very nature of 9/10
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his work was seen through a ‘white gaze’ b/c that was/is part of his field. Read more abt this here: https://bit.ly/31MWoHj Gilbert faced many obstacles as a Black scholar &serves as a model for being a master of languages & a pioneer in Archaeology &Classical studies. 10/10
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Day 14
: William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois (Feb.23, 1868-Aug. 27,1963) was an Historian, sociologist, civil rights activist, author, editor & Pan-Africanist. He was the 1st African American to earn a PhD from Harvard. Du Bois was born to Alfred & Mary Silvina (nee 1/18pic.twitter.com/V2X1ydzpwu
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Burghardt) Du Bois. His mother, who was of mixed heritage, came from a family that was part of a small free Black population & owned land in Massachusetts. Du Bois’ paternal line was also mixed heritage, so he was lucky enough to be able to trace his lineage quite far in both 2/
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Europe & Africa. Du Bois’s father was born in Haiti & immigrated to the US, eventually marrying Mary Silvina. Alfred left his family when W.E.B. was two, so he was raised primarily by his mother & her family. He grew up in a mixed community & attended an integrated public 3/18pic.twitter.com/WM9nSkVeIH
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school. He wrote abt being treated fairly well, but as an adult, he reflected on racism he felt as a fatherless child & being a minority. He must have experienced a great deal of racism that he had tried to bury, but internalized racism stays with us. Through this racism, he 4/18
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was incredibly intelligent &teachers recognized his abilities. This encouragement from teachers empowered him to use his knowledge to help African Americans. Du Bois’s childhood church congregation raised $ for him to pursue his education. He attended Fisk University as an 5/18pic.twitter.com/50aPm861Hk
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undergrad, & there is where he witnessed Southern racism 1st-hand. This racism included Jim Crow laws, Black voter suppression, lynching & more. Upon graduation, Du Bois went to Harvard College, where he was influenced by a prominent American philosopher, Prof. William James. 6/pic.twitter.com/Cg69oEg72J
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Harvard did not transfer Fisk Uni’s courses, so Du Bois earned his 2nd BA in History at Harvard. He graduated cum laude & received a scholarship to attend grad school there. His brilliance earned him a fellowship to attend the University of Berlin for grad work. He was able 7/
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to travel extensively all over Europe & came of age intellectually during a time in Germany when the country’s most well-known social scientists were working. In Germany he wrote abt not being constantly “othered” saying wyte ppl there “they did not always pause to regard me 8/
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as a curiosity, or something sub-human; I was just a man of the somewhat privileged student rank with whom they were glad to meet & talk over the world.” Within 3 yrs, Du Bois graduated from Harvard with a PhD. Du Bois went on to teach at Tuskegee Institute, Wilberforce Uni 9/pic.twitter.com/APlSiyWYXb
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& the UofPennsylvania. He conducted research in sociology relating to Af-Am neighborhoods which became the 1st case study of a Black community in the US. Stereotypes gave Philly’s Black neighborhoods bad reputations, but Du Bois’ results based on empirical evidence undermined 10/pic.twitter.com/Z3no3qc9EA
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stereotypes. His important work rejected the idea that African Americans needed to fully integrate into wyte society. In opposition to Frederick Douglass’ argument, Du Bois encouraged African Americans to embrace their African heritage while contributing to American society. 11/
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Du Bois moved on to Atlanta U & published prolifically. He became a spokesperson for Black ppl after attending the 1st Pan-African Conference organized by men from the Caribbean, & held in London in 1900. The only person who had more influence within Af-Am & wyte communities 12/pic.twitter.com/ExN7p9WSiC
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at the time was Booker T. Washington (we’ll learn abt him later). Racial tensions in the early 20th century was a catalyst that strengthened support for Du Bois’s struggle for civil rights over Booker T. Washington’s approach. Throughout his political &civil rights activism, 12/
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Du Bois continued to produce scholarly work. Du Bois was offered a position of Director of Publicity & Research by the NAACP. He also suggested the word “colored” in lieu of “black” be used to include “dark skinned people everywhere.” He saw women's rights as a civil rights 13/pic.twitter.com/6Ox6m4vtM2
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issue. In his support, he couldn’t publicly endorse the women’s right to vote movement b/c they refused to support his fight against racism. Feminism for wyte women is STILL an issue today. Over the next decade, Du Bois attended race conference around the world & wrote both 14/
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scholarly work &novels One notable work is “The Negro” which was a history of black Africans (the 1st of its kind in English). It rebutted claims of African inferiority & influenced the Pan-African movement. It also shifted the focus from wyte Euro-centrism for the 1st time.15/pic.twitter.com/oieWVCOyE8
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Dubois was well-travelled & met w/ many leaders, politicians & influential ppl. In all this, Du Bois continued to fight racism in academia, in his role in NAACP & w/ his activism. He used his voice & writings to oppose racism. His work is foundational for understanding race 16/
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& racism. Du Bois’s political leanings made him a target by the gov’t. Throughout his life he opposed a lot of political policies that worked against BIPOC & working class. As a socialist, he was targeted by McCarthyism & the FBI. He believed that socialism could ameliorate 17/
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some of the problems like racism & poverty that capitalism helped create. This thread cannot do justice to the influential work & life W.E.B. Du Bois, but his brilliance, perseverance & activism are truly inspiring. Read more abt him here: https://bit.ly/39wpm0H 18/18
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Addendum: Today's feature wouldn't be complete without this fabulous picture of W.E.B Du Bois (sitting on the left) with the graduating class from Fisk University in 1888.pic.twitter.com/Q2JmU5dRai
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Day 15: Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (Jan.2,1898 – Nov.1,1989) was an economics professor & lawyer. She was the 1st African-American to earn a PhD in economics & the 2nd Black woman to receive a PhD in the US. She was also the 1st woman to be admitted &receive a law degree 1/11pic.twitter.com/eKlYlGCNJI
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