W.E.B. Du Bois

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W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868 in Massachusetts. He was an educated black man and obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895 and was a professor at Atlanta University where he spent his life studying blacks in America. He originally believed that social science could help to solve the racism in America, but over the years he realized that the only way to bring about social change is through agitation and protest. His view was the opposite of another famous black leader Booker T. Washington. Washington believed that blacks should just accept discrimination for the time being and lift themselves up through hard work. Du Bois’ approach to racial equality was a good one, but not practical. He was more radical in his approach. He believed in “Top Down Education” motivate and educate the top 10% of the black population and let them lead the rest. He helped to organize the Niagara Movement which was a civil rights group and the precursor to the NAACP. The Niagara Movement attempted to bring about legal change, addressing the issues of crime, economics, religion, health, and education.
Contributed by Mary Knudson, Co-Leader

Sources:
Kate Tuttle, “Niagara Movement,” Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Susan Altman, “Niagara Movement,” The Encyclopedia of African American Heritage (New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1997); Scott Kirkwood, “And Justice for All” National Parks (Washington: Summer 2006) http://proquest.umi.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/

Sinclair Lewis

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American novelist, playwright, and social critic who gained popularity with satirical novels. Sinclair Lewis won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, the first given to American. His total output includes 22 novels and three plays. Although Lewis often criticized the American way of living, his basic view of the "American human comedy" was optimistic. Harry Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Centre, a prairie village in the heart of Minnesota, as the third son of a country doctor. His mother, who was the daughter of a Canadian physician, died of tuberculosis when Lewis was six years old. His father was remarried a year later to Isabel Warner. Lewis considered her psychically his own mother. Later, Lewis characterized Sauk Center as "narrow-minded and socially provincial" and books offered him one way of escape: he had access to the three or four hundred volumes, exclusive of medical books, in his father's library. From 1913-14 Lewis produced a syndicated book page, which helped him to gain good reviews of his own works by his fellow writers. In 1914 Lewis married Grace Livingston Hegger, an editor at Vogue. Their son, Wells, was named after the famous British author H.G. Wells, to whose social ideas Lewis was drawn to. For the following two years he worked as an editor and advertising manager at the book publishing firm George H. Doran Company. In 1916 Lewis abandoned his job and traveled with his wife around the country. After publishing two novels, Lewis devoted himself entirely to writing.

Teddy Roosevelt

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Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States. He was against the rising power of the industries in the United States and he wanted to reduce their power to protect the common man. His domestic policy program was known as the "Square Deal" which involved balancing the interests of big business and organized labor. Teddy was all for promoting the rights of workers and he attempted to increase railroad regulation. His greatest victory over the wealthy came when he successfully prosecuted Northern Securities and Standard Oil companies under the Sherman Act of 1890. During his presidency there were issues over conserving Americas resources or using them to the fullest for as long as possible. Since he was a sportsman and naturalist, he sided with the conservationists. With the aid and encouragement of Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot, he worked to preserve more than 170 million acres, mostly in the West, in the forms of national parks and monuments. The Reclamation Act of 1902 was passed during his presidency.  Contributed by John Brak.

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Susan B. Anthony

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Susan B. Anthony devoted her life fighting for equality for all, particularly the women suffrage movement. She co-founded the Equal Rights Association to link the rights of white women and African Americans. Unfortunately, Kansas voters defeated the referendum in 1867. It was her hard work and dedication that paved the way for women to have the right to vote. She was even arrested and fined for voting on November 5, 1872 and refused to pay because she felt it was an “unjust penalty”. Susan B. Anthony wrote the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in 1878 which later became the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. The last words she spoke to the public were “failure is impossible.” This became the rallying cry for the Women’s Suffrage.