Introduction

W e b du boys turned 70 in the year 19 38, he decided to write an autobiography. The resulting work, dusk of dawn, appeared in 19 forty with the striking, if also puzzling sub title, an essay toward an autobiography of a race concept. At the very end of the book, he records remarks he offered at the public celebration of his seventieth birthday, including the serene boast, i have never shared what seems to me the essentially childish desire to live forever.