The Souls of Black Folk

Published in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk is an important contribution to African-American literature, American literature, and sociology. A collection of 14 essays, the work is Du Bois’s description of the state of the South and African Americans’ lives at the turn of the 20th century. This guide is based on the Amazon Classics Kindle book edition.

In “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” Du Bois describes the psychological struggles of African Americans as they navigate a world that treats them as second-class Americans.

In “Of the Dawn of Freedom,” Du Bois offers a historical narrative of Emancipation and the years during which the Freedmen’s Bureau guided African Americans’ lives.

In “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” Du Bois attacks Washington’s focus on education and argues that his compromise on civil rights was moral and political cowardice.

In “Of the Wings of Progress,” Du Bois describes how little progress African Americans made toward gaining the benefits of freedom from the beginning of the US Civil War in 1861 until 1872.

In “Of the Wings of Atalanta,” Du Bois holds up modern Atlanta as a prime example of the dangers of materialism to the South, African Americans, and America.

In “Of the Training of Black Men,” Du Bois argues that education is necessary for the continued prosperity of the nation and the uplifting of African Americans.

In “Of the Black Belt” and “Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece,” Du Bois describes the negative impact that a cotton economy has had on both black and white Southerners.

In “Of the Songs of Master and Man,” Du Bois offers a sociological examination of contacts between the races and concludes that continued segregation is a danger to the United States.

In “Of the Faith of the Fathers,” Du Bois traces the evolution of African-American spirituality from Africa to the role of the modern black church.

In “Of the Passing of the Firstborn,” Du Bois describes the ambivalence he felt when his son was born and then died; he is grateful in the end for his son’s death because it allowed him to escape the foreclosure of opportunity that comes with racism.

In “Of Alexander Crummell,” Du Bois offers a spiritual biography of Alexander Crummell, an Episcopalian and early Pan-Africanist.

“Of the Coming of John” is a short story about an African-American man who goes North for his education and then is unable to reintegrate into his community when he returns to the South.

“Of the Sorrow Songs” is an examination of the significance of African-American spirituals to American and African-American culture.