Notes on Du Bois's final years

A Bridge Over Troubled Urban Waters

“…Du Bois, pointing to myriad frameworks emergent in his work. Endeavoring to assert and uncover Du Bois's place as a central figure in sociology in particular, and the social sciences and humanities more generally, scholarship has centered on issues of race and racism (Aptheker 2000; Broderick 1974; Fields 2002; Hancock 2003; Marable 1986; Morris 2006; Morris and Ghazani, 2005; Rudwick 1974; Watts 1983; Young and Deskins, 2001; Zuckerman 2002). Of particular importance in the social sciences has been The Philadelphia Negro , as it perhaps stands as Du Bois's most comprehensive social scientific work.…”

“…Lewis's assertion is important not only because it highlights Du Bois's disposition during the time he produced The Philadelphia Negro , but also because it points to the enduring social scientific legacy Du Bois's The Philadelphia Negro was to embody. Recent work on Du Bois's analysis in The Philadelphia Negro has begun to reveal some of the other elements included within this text including the longstanding German influence on Du Bois's sociological imagination (Anderson 1999; Bay 1998; Weger 2009; Young and Deskins, 2001; Zuberi 2004), his pioneering efforts in methods of ethnographic triangulation (Anderson 1999; Morris and Ghazani, 2005; O'Connor 2009) and demography (Bobo 2000; Wortham 2009), analyses of race relations in urban America (Aptheker 2000; Broderick 1974; Hunter 2013; Marable 1986; McKee 1993; Morris 2006; Rudwick 1974; Watts 1983; Wright 2000), and his significant discussion of assimilation patterns of immigrants and migrants (Drake and Cayton, 1945; Wortham 2008). Despite the new insights afforded by recent research, honing in on Du Bois's notion of a “city within a city” affords new insights into the book, and squarely places him and The Philadelphia Negro into a long-standing dialogue and debate regarding urban Black enclaves, spatial inequality, and urban racial relations.…”

W.E.B. Du Bois and Black Heterogeneity: How The Philadelphia Negro Shaped American Sociology

“…Du Bois pointing to myriad frameworks emergent in his work. Endeavoring to assert and uncover Du Bois's place as a central figure in sociology in particular, and the social sciences and humanities more generally, scholarship has centered on issues of race and racism (Aptheker 2000;Broderick 1974;Fields 2002;Hancock 2003;Marable 1986;Morris 2006;Morris and Ghaziani 2005;Rudwick 1974;Watts 1983;Wright 2002Wright , 2005Wright , 2006Young and Deskins 2001;Zuckerman 2002). Of particular importance in the social sciences has been The Philadelphia Negro, as it perhaps stands as Du Bois's most comprehensive social scientific work.…”

“…Much like Booth in his study of London, Du Bois encountered a Philadelphia that had, over time, become a different social environment (Aptheker 2000;Du Bois 1899, 1969Hunter 2013a, b;Katz and Sugrue 1998), one shifting from colonial to industrial economic center. The Philadelphia that Du Bois sought to understand and study was one that had emerged as an industrial urban giant, and center for Black migration north, an ideal setting to examine the socio-economic conditions of the Black community (Du Bois 1899; Katz and Sugrue 1998;Deegan 2002).…”

“…Heavily influenced by his time in Germany under the tutelage of Gustav Schmoller, Gustav Wagner, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel, Du Bois sought to begin his formal investigation into the social realities of Blacks in the United States by developing theories generated from empirical data (see e.g. Anderson 1996;Aptheker 2000;Bay 1998;Broderick 1974;Hunter 2013a, b;Katz and Sugrue 1998;Morris 2006;Rudwick 1974;Young and Deskins 2001;Wright 2002;Zuberi 2004). In particular, his familiarity with the work of Simmel clearly influences his conceptualization of urban space in Philadelphia as a combination of the physical and the social and his broader use of historical synthesis to develop sociological theory (see e.g.…”