MEDIA CONTACT: Wendy Leopold at (847) 491-4890 or at w-leopold@northwestern.edu

October 13, 2003

Du Bois Works on Display

EVANSTON, Ill. --- An exhibit of the works of the great sociologist, historian and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, whose landmark book “The Souls of Black Folks” was published 100 years ago, is on display at Northwestern University Library through Dec. 31.

The exhibit, which is free and open to the public during regular library hours, corresponds with a Oct. 24-25 conference organized by Northwestern’s Alice Berline Kaplan Center for the Humanities and the Department of African American Studies titled “100 Years of The Souls of Black Folks: A Celebration.”

The display of works by the highly influential Du Bois is located in the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies on Level 5 of the East Tower of Northwestern University Library, 1970 Campus Drive, Evanston campus..

The exhibit at the Herskovits Library includes a signed, first edition copy of “The Souls of Black Folks,” published in Chicago by A. C. McClurg & Co. in 1903, and first editions of later Du Bois works, including “Black Folk Then and Now,” published in 1939; “Dusk of Dawn,” published in 1940; and “The World and Africa,” published in 1947.

In “The Souls of Black Folks,” Du Bois described the magnitude of American racism, demanded an end to it, and defined the problem of the 20th century as “the problem of the color line.”

For further information about the Du Bois book exhibit or library hours, call the Herskovits Library reference desk at (847) 467-3084 or send an e-mail to Africana@northwestern.edu.