Fang in Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
William Edward Burghardt DuBois
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 18, 2021
1. William Edward Burghardt DuBois Marker
1963 Died in Accra, Ghana
1885 Great Barrington High School
1888 Fisk University, A.B.
1890 Harvard University, A.B.
1892 Harvard University, M.A.
1893 University of Berlin
1895 Harvard University, Ph.D.
1904 Founder of the Niagara Movement
1908 Founder of NAACP
1910 Founder and Editor of Crisis Magazine
He authored more than 30 books and wrote more than 75 chapters in other books; published more than 3,000 articles on various subjects and delivered hundreds of papers before national and international audiences.
The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.
One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
They came out of the South, unknown to me, one by one, and yet at once I knew them as of me and of mine. Then in after years when I came to Nashville I saw the great temple builded of these songs towering over the pale city. Tome Jubilee Hall seemed ever made of the songs themselves, and its bricks were red with the blood and dust of toil. Out of them rose for me morning, noon, and night, bursts of wonderful melody, full of the voices of my brothers and sisters, full of the voices of the past.
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Erected 1982.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1868.
Location. 36° 9.981′ N, 86° 48.25′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Tennessee, in Davidson County. It is in Fang. It can be reached from Jackson Street west of 17th Avenue North, on the right when traveling west. Marker is northeast of DuBois Hall on the Fisk University campus. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Nashville TN 37208, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery (a few steps from this marker); The Formation of Fisk University (within shouting distance of this marker); Samuel Allen McElwee (within shouting distance of this marker); The Little Theatre (within shouting distance of this marker); Cravath Hall (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Ella Sheppard (Moore)
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 18, 2021
2. William Edward Burghardt DuBois Marker
The bronze statue of DuBois was sculpted by James Miles, cast by Russell Faxon and dedicated on December 11, 1982, according to the National Portrait Gallery's public art database.
Also see . . . W. E. B. Du Bois (William Edward Burghardt). Tennessee Encyclopedia entry by Richard A. Couto on Dubois' years in Tennessee, including his time as a rural schoolteacher. (Submitted on September 19, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
via New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, circa 1888
3. W. E. B. DuBois with the Fisk University Class of 1888
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 19, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 603 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 19, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
