William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, author and activist. He was an important leader during the early 1900’s. He helped create the NAACP in 1909 and was the editor of its magazine for 24 years. He received Bachelor’s degrees from Fisk University and Harvard and was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. Du Bois believed that education was key to racial equality. He wrote several books, articles and essays about African-Americans and was the first scholar to study African-American urban life.