Published in 1903, 'The Souls of Black Folk' is a foundational text of American literature and sociology. The book explores themes of race, identity, and the quest for equality in an era marked by systemic racism and segregation. Du Bois reflects on the historical context of Emancipation, the double-consciousness of being both Black and American, and the struggles of the Black community. His prophetic remarks and critical insights have been cited as the intellectual framework for the Civil Rights movement and continue to influence contemporary writers.
This book challenges the traditional academic views of the Reconstruction era, particularly those of the Dunning School, by highlighting the significant roles and agency of African Americans during this period. Du Bois argues that the actions of freed slaves and black workers were crucial in the Civil War and the subsequent attempt to reconstruct American society. He also examines the efforts of the elite planter class to retain control and the division among the Southern working class along racial lines, which ultimately led to the disfranchisement of many blacks and poor whites[1][3][5].
In 1935, W. E. B. Du Bois, scholar, public intellectual, and social and political activist, published his magnum opus: Black Reconstruction in America. In it, he tackled the subject of the American Civil War and, especially, the decade or so that followed, a period known as Reconstruction.
During Reconstruction it seemed, for a time, that the South and the United States as a whole, might be remade as a radically more equitable society. What was achieved during Reconstruction and why these efforts ultimately failed, is what concerns Du Bois in Black Reconstruction. He was also concerned with challenging and correcting the racist histories of Reconstruction that were prevalent in both popular and academic circles in his day.
Black Reconstruction is a widely respected and celebrated book today, but many of its early readers were dismissive, perhaps none more than the academic historians who Du Bois was justifiably calling out. The American Historical Review, for its part, ignored the book entirely. No review. Well, until now. Almost a century later, the AHR just published a review of Black Reconstruction in the December 2022 issue, penned by Yale historian Elizabeth Hinton.
Professor Elizabeth Hinton serves as our guide exploring W.E.B. Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction. We also hear from Eric Foner, Chad Williams, Sue Mobley, and Kendra Field.
Produced by History in Focus, a podcast from The American Historical Review, hosted and produced by Daniel Story, Digital Scholarship Librarian at UC Santa Cruz.
Voices in this Episode
Elizabeth Hinton (Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Yale University, with a secondary appointment as Professor of Law at Yale Law School)
Eric Foner (DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University)
Chad Williams (Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University)
Sue Mobley (New Orleans based organizer/activist/urbanist; Director of Research at Monument Lab)
Kendra Field (Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University; Project Historian for The Du Bois Freedom Center)
Daniel Story (Host and Producer, Digital Scholarship Librarian at UC Santa Cruz)
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