April 25, 1903: The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, by W.E.B. Du Bois, is published in Chicago by A.C. McClurg & Co. It is a collection of essays on race, some of which had been published earlier in The Atlantic Monthly. It became a cornerstone of both African-American literature and American sociology.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois -- and he pronounced it "Doo Boiss," not the French "Doo Bwah") -- was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. It would later become home to painter Norman Rockwell and singer Arlo Guthrie. In 1895, he became the 1st black person to earn a doctorate at Harvard University, and subsequently became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University).
He began The Souls of Black Folk with, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line." The events of the 20th Century would prove him right, often in brutal ways. The line would get thinner, but, even in the 21st Century, it has never been erased.
His essays discussed black masculinity, the relationships between fathers and sons, the relationships between blacks and whites, the connection between black people and their churches, and how black people were treated in different parts of the country.
He used the term "double consciousness," perhaps taken from Ralph Waldo Emerson (from "The Transcendentalist" and "Fate"), applying it to the idea that black people must have two fields of vision at all times. He said that they must be conscious of how they view themselves, as well as being conscious of how the world views them.
He also contrasted his views with those of the leading civil rights activist of the time, Booker T. Washington. Du Bois and his supporters opposed Washington's "Atlanta Compromise," which provided that Southern blacks would work and submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic educational and economic opportunities.
Instead, Du Bois insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as "the Talented Tenth," meaning that black people represented 1/10th of the American population. (Today, it is closer to 1/8th.) He and believed that African-Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership.
Du Bois went on to become one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He edited their newsletter, The Crisis. He pushed for a federal anti-lynching law. He also supported women's rights, including the right to vote. In the 1920s, he promoted the Harlem Renaissance, an artistic revival in New York's black community.
But as he got older, he became more radical. He opposed U.S. entry into World War II, because he believed that the rise of Imperial Japan, and the rise of Communism in China that he had foreseen, would provide a counterweight to worldwide white supremacy. He was fired from his teaching post at Clark. After the war, he said he was not a Communist, and criticized the dictatorship of the Soviet Union. But he also felt that capitalism was responsible for poverty and racism, and felt that socialism was an alternative that might ameliorate those problems. The Soviets explicitly rejected racial distinctions and class distinctions, leading Du Bois to conclude that the USSR was the "most hopeful country on earth."
Finally, in 1961, he joined the Communist Party, and fled to the new African nation of Ghana. He had spoken for years about compiling and publishing The Encyclopedia of the Negro, and the government of Kwame Nkrumah had told him they would fund it. The project still didn't really get going, and he died on August 27, 1963 -- the day before the March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom. in his speech at that march, Roy Wilkins asked the audience to honor Du Bois with a moment of silence, which they did.
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April 25, 1903 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:
* The brand-new New York Highlanders, forerunners of the Yankees, beat the Washington Senators, 11-1 at Boundary Park in Washington. Jack Chesbro was the winning pitcher, Jimmy Williams went 3-for-4 with a walk and 4 RBIs, and Willie Keeler went 2-for-4.
* The New York Giants beat the Boston Beaneaters (forerunners of the Braves), 8-7 at the 1890-1910 version of the Polo Grounds. The Giants trailed 6-5 in the bottom of the 8th, then took a 7-6 lead. The Beaneaters tied the game in the top of the 9th, but the Giants won it in the bottom of the 9th. Joe McGinnity went the distance for the win.
* The Brooklyn Superbas (forerunners of the Dodgers) beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-0 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. Henry Schmidt pitched a 5-hit shutout.
* The Boston Americans (later the Red Sox) beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-0 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. Tom Hughes threw a 4-hit shutout, to outpitch Rube Waddell.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Honus Wagner went 2-for-4.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Naps, 2-0 at Bennett Park in Detroit. Mal Eason pitched a 3-hit shutout. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the slugger, 2nd baseman and manager for whom the Cleveland team was named, went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at West Side Park in Chicago.
* And the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns were rained out at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. It would take until September 11 for the game to be made up. The Browns won, 6-1.
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