DU BOIS, W(ILLIAM) E(DWARD) B(URGHARDT)

born Feb. 23, 1868, Great Barrington, Mass., U.S. died Aug. 27, 1963, Accra, Ghana Du Bois, 1918 American sociologist, the most important black protest leader in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. He shared in the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and edited The Crisis, its magazine, from 1910 to 1934. Late in life he became identified with Communist causes.