 "Photo: Shawn Trimbel/Echo staff photographer")
It was a moment of "pure serendipity," said N.C. Central University associate professor of sociology Robert Wortham.
In 2003 he was asked on short notice to participate on a conference panel dedicated to examining the 100-year anniversary of the publication of "The Souls of Black Folk," William Edward Burghardt Du Bois' classic exploration of race and racism in America.
Wortham says he knew next to nothing about W.E.B. Du Bois prior to that panel discussion. His graduate studies up to that point were in religion; his dissertation examined religion in Kenya.
He has since turned that moment of serendipity into his life's mission. Wortham has edited three books and written 10 articles examining Du Bois' important contribution as a sociologist.
In "The Sociological Souls of Black Folk: Essays by W. E. B. Du Bois," published this July, Wortham examines the sociological impact of Du Bois' work through the original essays that were the foundation of Du Bois' 1903 classic work.
Wortham said he prepared for that surprise panel session by reading Du Bois' 1899 case study of a black community, "The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study."
Wortham said he was stunned by the sociological breadth of the Du Bois case study, and that he was surprised he hadn't been required to study Du Bois in graduate school.
"The Philadelphia Negro" combined — or as Wortham writes "triangulated" — historical sources, participant observation, survey and census data, to richly portray Philadelphia's black community.
"Where has this been? And where have I been? What else do I not know?" asked Wortham of the case study.
Wortham, who is white, has taught at NCCU for 23 years. He said Du Bois' contribution to sociology is neglected because of a form of "academic apartheid" within the sociological discipline.
"I don't want to see Du Bois as a black sociologist. I want to see DuBois as a pioneer of American sociology … period," said Wortham, adding that he should be studied not just at HBCUs but at all research universities.
"It's mindboggling how extensive and how massive his work is."
According to Freddie Parker, interim chair of the department of history, Wortham's resurrection of Du Bois' contribution to sociology is invaluable.
"To place a voice and actually resurrect Du Bois from social oblivion — because for the most part he has not gone down as a lead sociologist — and for Dr. Wortham to do what he's done is one of the best things that the University has produced in a long time," said Parker.
Du Bois was no stranger to NCCU or Durham.
In the early 20th century, NCCU founder James E. Shepard invited him several times to NCCU, which was then called National Religious Training School and Chautauqua.
In 1912 Du Bois published an account of Durham's black community, "The Upbuilding of Black Durham. The Success of the Negroes and Their Value to a Tolerant and Helpful Southern City," which lauded the social and economic development of Durham's African-American community.
Du Bois was a founder of the NAACP. He is known for taking an outspoken stance against racism and for his conflict with Booker T. Washington, who argued for a more accommodating approach towards whites.
In 1905 he founded the Niagara Movement, which was dedicated to attacking Washington's more moderate approach.
Du Bois was born in Massachusetts in 1868. Toward the end of his life became increasingly disillusioned with America.
He renounced his citizenship and left the United States permanently for Accra, Ghana, in 1962 after joining the Communist Party. Du Bois died in 1968, the same year his book "The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois" was published.
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