-
Ida Tarbell
Born in Western Pennsylvania. Daughter of independent oil producer. She was angry when John Rockefeller's standard oil company began swallowing up independent oil companies. -
Born
W.E.B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington Massachusetts. As a child Du Bois attended Sunday school with African American and white children. Not untill high school did he realize that his skin color caused some people to not like him. -
Inspiration for Reform
Magazines such as Munsey's and Everybodys's published stories exploring corruption in politics. As well as social problems. McClure's Magazine had been founded in 1893 by the reform-minded Scots- Irish immigrant S. S. McClure. -
Schooling
Du Bois became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. He studied History in Geremany. Two years later he was appointed professor of history and economics at Atlanta University, a leading African American college, taught untill 1910. -
Civil Rights
By the early 1900's Du Bois was recognized as a strong supporter of Civil Rights. He believed that access to college education and vocational training offered the best chance of progress for African Americans. He also believed that African Americans should be politically active in the struggle for racial equality. -
interests
Throughout his lifetime he had an interest in Africa. He wrote a book in 1903 "The Souls Of Black Folk." Du Bois had two identies which he expressed as African and American in his book. -
Muckraking books
Lincoln Steffens documented urban political corruption in The Shame Of The Cities. That same year, writer Ray Stannard Baker toured yhe nation examining the plight of African Americans. Published in 1908, his book described a lynching in Springfield, Ohio. -
Dangerous workplace
70% of all American industrial laborers worked an average of 54 hours a week. This ended up with more accidents. In one Pittsburgh steel mill 25 % of its workforce was injured or killed on the job between years 1907-1910. -
Labor Laws
Most children worked in agriculture. Children in factories-More than 2 million in 1920 faced the worst conditions. Girls working 16 or more hous a day in canning factories. -
Politics
Du Bois organized a Pan-African congress. This attracted black leaders from around the world. He did this in order to creat greater unity among African families.
