by W. Du Bois
Blanche K. Bruce (1841-1898), a runaway slave, educator, and government official. In 1861, he escaped to Hannibal, Missouri, where he started a school for blacks; became a wealthy Mississippi planter; became the first black to serve as senator from Mississippi (1875-1881), and worked in government positions thereafter.
John Mercer Langston (1829-1897), lawyer, educator, and government official. A former slave in Virginia, he graduated from Oberlin College in 1849. He was Ohio’s first black lawyer, Virginia’s first black congressman, and the first president of Virginia State College; a founder and dean of the Law Department of Howard University; and a grand-uncle of the poet Langston Hughes.
42 Alexander Crummell] Episcopalian minister; antislavery spokesman; see note for page 176.
42 Bishop Daniel Payne] Payne (1811-1893) was an educator and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; promoted literary societies and lyceums for his church membership and helped establish Wilberforce University (Ohio) in 1863, over which he presided for sixteen years; wrote numerous works on his church and black people.
42 Revolution of 1876] This refers to the disputed presidential election of 1876 which led to the end of Reconstruction (the northern Republican Hayes was allowed to move into the White House, with the proviso that he have the remaining troops removed from the South, thus allowing the white supremacist southern Democrats to regain their power and destroy black political power) and to the “Compromise of 1877,” which favored economic growth in the South over rights of southern blacks.
42 Price] Joseph C. Price (1854-1893), son of a slave father and free mother who became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. A powerful speaker, he helped raise funds for black education, and as a foremost educator in North Carolina, he advocated the liberal arts over vocational, industrial training for blacks.
45 Toussaint the Savior, Gabriel, Vesey, Turner] See notes for pages 10 and 42.
45 the Grimkes, Kelly Miller, J. W. E. Bowen]
Archibald H. Grimké (1849-1930) and his brother Francis J. Grimké (1850-1937) were both civil rights activists. They were nephews of Sarah Grimké, the abolitionist. Archibald became a lawyer and writer, served as president of the American Negro Academy, and became a prominent leader in the NAACP. Francis studied theology and became a clergyman and author and a trustee of Howard University. He was active in the American Negro Academy and in government affairs in Washington, D.C.
Kelly Miller (1863-1939) was a sociologist and educator. His mother was a slave, his father a soldier in the Confederate Army. He began his career as a college professor of mathematics at Howard University in 1890; he was dean of Howard University from 1907 to 1918. He wrote many works on the race question and on black history, and added sociology to the curriculum of Howard University.
John Wesley Edward Bowen (1855-1933) was an educator and Methodist clergyman. He earned a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1887, the second black in America to achieve this. He served as a pastor of various churches in New Jersey, Maryland, and in Washington, D.C. He taught at various colleges, including Gammon Theological Seminary, the first black to do so. He also edited The Voice of the Negro and worked throughout his life for the complete equality of black ministers within the Methodist church.
48 Governor Aycock, Senator Morgan, Mr. Thomas Nelson Page, and Senator Ben Tillman]
Charles Aycock (1859-1912), the governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905, advocated educational reform in his state for both blacks and whites.
John Tyler Morgan (1824-1907), a senator from Alabama from 1876 to 1907; advocate of white supremacy.
Thomas Nelson Page (1853-1922), a novelist who romanticized the Old South with its plantation system.
Benjamin Ryan Tillman (1847-1918), an orator, a spokesman for southern extremists, a proponent of white supremacy. He was governor of South Carolina (1890-1894) and a senator from the same state (1894-1918). In each of these offices he advocated violent suppression of blacks.
IV. OF THE MEANING OF PROGRESS
51 “Willst Du... weiche Seele”] From Friedrich Schiller’s Die Jungfrau von Orleans (“The Maid of Orleans”), IV, i; “If You want to announce Your power,/Choose the ones who are without sin/In Your eternal House;/ Send forth Your spirits,/the immortal ones, the pure ones,/Who are beyond feeling and tears!/Don’t choose the sensitive maiden,/Not the shepherdess with her gentle soul!”
51 spiritual] “My Way’s Cloudy.”
62 Jim Crow car] The segregated train car for blacks.
V. OF THE WINGS OF ATALANTA
63 “O black boy of Atlanta! ... The black and white together”] From John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Howard at Atlanta,” sixth stanza.
63 Alleghanies] Allegheny mountain range that traverses Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
64 Lachesis] One of the three Fates, Lachesis carries the globe and decides the length of the thread of life.
64 Mercury] The messenger of the gods. Mercury’s realm is communication and speech.
64 Atalanta] Beautiful maiden and famous huntress of Greek mythology who took part in races and contests and destroyed those she conquered. She promised to marry anyone who could outrun her, but those who failed to meet her challenge were put to death. Finally she was conquered by Hippomenes, who tactically dropped three golden apples as he ran, which she stopped to pick up.
64 Bœotia] Greek province, the home of Atalanta.
64 Hippomenes] Winner of the race with Atalanta, he gained her hand in marriage.
65 Bourse] The stock exchange or meeting place for business.
65 Pluto] God of the underworld.
65 Ceres] Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and one of the Twelve Great Olympians. Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Pluto.
65 Apollo] Sun god, as well as the god of fine arts and medicine; one of the twelve Olympians.
65 Venus] Aphrodite, the goddess of love; one of the twelve Olympians.
66 Third Estate] Formerly (especially under feudalism) consisted of commoners (the bourgeoisie), while the First Estate was the clergy, and the Second Estate was the nobility.
68 Mammonism] The worship and greedy pursuit of riches.
68 Dido, tale of Troy] Dido founded and became the queen of Carthage. She fell in love with Aeneas, who was on his way back to Italy after the Trojan War. After his departure, she put a curse on the Trojans and committed suicide with her sword.
69 trivium and quadrivium] In the Middle Ages, the academic disciplines were divided into the trivium and quadrivium. The former consisted of the lower branch of the seven liberal arts, or the three arts knowns as grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The latter consisted of the four arts known as arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
69 Leipsic] Leipzig, a major cultural, educational, and commercial center in what is now East Germany. In Du Bois’s time, the third largest German university was in Leipzig.
69 Parnassus] One of the highest mountains in Greece, named after Parnassus, Poseidon’s son. The mountain was sacred to Apollo, to Dionysus, and to the Muses; Delphi is located on one of its slopes.
69 “Entbehren sollst du, sollst entbehren”] From Goethe’s Faust, “In the Study,” line 1549, meaning “You need to forbear, forbear you must!” At this juncture Faust is thinking about the many limitations of life and wishing for death.
69 Fisk, Howard, Atlanta] See note for page 28.
70 from Academus to Cambridge] Academus was the school founded in Athens by Plato in 387 B.C., which embodied the idea of a liberal arts education. It is the ancestor of the Western university system. Cambridge is a prestigious English university.
71 Apples of Hesperides] The Hesperides were the daughters of Atlas and Hesperis and guardians of the golden apples.
71 Boethian lovers] Hippomenes and Atalanta—see note for page 64.
71 William and Mary, Trinity, Georgia, Texas, Tulane, Vanderbilt] Prestigious Southern universities.
VI. OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN
74 “Why, if the Soul... crippled to abide?”] Stanza 44 of “The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám” translated by Edward Fitzgerald, taken from Fitzgerald’s fifth revision.
74 spiritual] “March On.”
74 Jamestown] First successful English settlement in what is now the U.S. (in Virginia), 1607, of which James Smith became the first leader.
75 tertium quid] something which is undefined but connected in some way to two things which are known or definite.
77 Dr. Johnson] Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). English lexicographer, essayist, poet, and man of letters, he was one of the most famous literary figures of his day.
81 Hampton] Hampton Institute, Virginia, was founded in 1868 by Samuel Armstrong, who had commanded black troops during the Civil War. Booker T. Washington was one of the institute’s most eminent graduates.
81 Spelman Seminary] The first U. S. college for Afro-American women; founded in 1881 by two New England women, Sophia Packard and Harriet Giles; grew out of the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary and moved to its present site in 1883. In 1884 the name was changed to Spelman Seminary.
83 Wilberforce, Lincoln, Biddle, Shaw]
Wilberforce University (Wilberforce, Ohio) was founded in 1856 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church and named for the famous English abolitionist William Wilberforce, who led the campaign against the slave trade in England. (The slave trade was abolished there in 1807 and slavery was completely abolished in 1833.)
Lincoln University (Oxford, Pennsylvania) was founded in 1854 by Reverend John Miller Dickey (affiliated with the American Colonization Society) and Sarah Emlen Cresson (his wife); founded to promote scientific, classical, and theological learning; first institution of higher learning for blacks.
Biddle University (Charlotte, North Carolina) was founded in 1867 by the Presbyterian Church; originally founded to educate black men in the fields of religion and education. Mary Biddle, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, donated funds, and the university was originally called the Biddle Memorial Institute after her deceased husband; renamed Johnson C. Smith University in 1921.
Shaw University (Raleigh, North Carolina) was established in 1865 by Baptists; in its earlier days, it was known for its medical school, one of the first for blacks.
84 Commissioner Harris] William Torrey Harris, U.S. commissioner of education (1889-1906). Harris Teachers College (St. Louis, Missouri), founded in 1857, was named after Harris, who was superintendent of the St. Louis school system (1867-1880).
87 Talented Tenth] Du Bois and other black intellectuals posited that 10 percent of the black population (the “talented tenth”) should be leaders of the group.
90 Rhine-gold] In Germanic mythology, the hoard of gold watched over by Rhine maidens and later owned by the Nibelungen and Siegfried. Also spelled Rheingold.
90 Balzac, Dumas] Honoré de Balzac was a nineteenth-century French novelist of the Realist tradition. Alex andre Dumas was a nineteenth-century French novelist of romances and histories.
90 Aurelius] Marcus (121-180), Roman emperor from 161- 180 and Stoic philosopher.
90 Pisgah] The mountain range east of Jordan from which Moses viewed the Promised Land.
90 Philistine] Member of a warlike race in ancient Philistia (southwest Palestine).
90 Amalekite] Member of a pillaging nomadic tribe in the line of Esau and hostile to the Israelites.
VII. OF THE BLACK BELT
91 “I am black... have I not kept”] From The Song of Solomon 1:5-6.
91 spiritual] “Bright Sparkles.”
91 Hemando de Soto] Between 1539 and 1542 this Spanish explorer and conquistador, searched without success for gold in the southwestern part of the U.S., but discovered instead the Mississippi River.
92 Cherokees] A great tribe of the Iroquoian Indians, formerly dwelling in Georgia and in North Carolina.
92 Sam Hose] Black farmhand accused of murdering his employer in April 1899 in a quarrel over wages. He escaped, but while he was being hunted down, an additional charge of rape was brought against him. Once captured, he accepted the murder charge but denied the rape charge even under duress. He was brutally murdered (lynched and burned alive) as a mob of two thousand people looked on.
92 Oglethorpe] James Oglethorpe, the founder and first governor of Georgia.
92 prayers of Whitefield] George Whitefield (1714-1770), an English evangelist who supported the freeholders in Georgia who petitioned the English government to remove the restrictions on importing slaves. Whitefield, though he did promote kind treatment of slaves, did not believe that slavery should be abolished because of evidence in the Bible erroneously believed to sanction slavery.
92 Darien, Delegal riots, Scotch Highlanders, Moravians of Ebenezer]
In Darien, Georgia, on August 23, 1899, an uprising took place, known as the Delegal riots, in which hundreds of blacks, hearing rumors of an impending lynching, gathered together to safeguard the intended victim’s welfare. Twenty-one members of the crowd were later accused of insurrection and sent to prison camps.
Scotch Highlanders had settled in this area of Georgia at the end of the eighteenth century when the clan sys tern of the Highlands ended, marking a massive wave of immigration to North America.
Moravians founded two settlements, Ebenezer (1734) and New Ebenezer (1736), near Savannah, Georgia.
92 Haytian Terror of Toussaint] See note for page 10.
92 statute of 1808] On March 2, 1807, Congress passed an act prohibiting the importation of slaves into U.S. territory after January 1, 1808.
93 Creek Indians] A grouping of Muskhogean tribes, formerly dwelling in parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
94 Indian Massacre at Fort Mims] At Fort Mims, Alabama, Creek Indians massacred settlers under their chief, William Weatherford, on August 30, 1813.
94 panic of 1837] Under Jackson, economic conditions worsened, and in May 1837, New York banks stopped paying in specie, thus beginning the panic. Other banks in major northern cities failed soon afterward. The effects of the panic continued for the next seven years in the western and southern states.
94 “Rhine-pfalz, or Naples, or Cracow”] Rhein-Pfalz, a province in the German Rhineland; Naples, a city in Italy; Kraków, a city in Poland.
101 “Osceola, the Indian-Negro chieftain”] Osceola (ca. 1800—1838) was a Seminole Indian leader born in Georgia. In April 1835 he began organizing his people for what later was known as the Second Seminole War. The black allies of the Seminoles, fugitive slaves of the South, were part of his warrior group, who set out to destroy white oppression.
VIII. OF THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE
111 “But the Brute... empty skies”] William Vaughn Moody’s poem “The Brute.”
112 Jason and his Argonauts] Jason and his fifty-five companions sailing on the ship Argo in quest of the Golden Fleece were known as Argonauts.
122 “its Spanish war interludes and Philippine matinees”] This refers to events in the Spanish-American War (1898), which was fought primarily in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
128 rack-rent] An annual rent that is as high, or almost as high, as the appraised value of the property
131 panic of 1893] Financial crisis in the U.S. whose influence was first felt with the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading railroads on February 20, 1893. The situation worsened that year with 74 railroads falling into receivership, 600 banks closing, and 15,000 commercial houses collapsing. On June 27, 1893, the New York stock market crashed and precipitated a four-year depression.
IX. OF THE SONS OF MASTER AND MAN
133 “Life treads on life... grave apart”] Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “A Vision of Poets,” first stanza of conclusion, lines 820-822.
135 tertium quid] See note for page 75.
152 Phillis Wheatley, Sam Hose] See notes for pages 41 and 92.
153 “That mind and soul... But vaster”] Tennyson’s “In Me moriam,” Prologue, lines 27-28.
X. OF THE FAITH
OF THE FATHERS
154 “Dim Face of Beauty... To a little sand”] From Fiona Macleod’s (pen name for William Sharp) “Dim Face of Beauty,” first and third (last) stanzas.
154 spiritual] “Steal Away Home.”
154 Berkshire, Suffolk] Counties in Massachusetts and in England, respectively.
156 Delphi] Shrine of Apollo, known for its oracles; located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.
156 Endor] At the behest of King Saul, the Witch of Endor summoned the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who foretold the victory of the Philistines and Saul’s death (I Samuel 28:3-25).
157 Jubilee songs] Spirituals sung by the Jubilee Singers (see note for page 205).
158 Bethel of Philadelphia] Bethel Church, the first separate black Methodist Episcopal church in America, was founded by Richard Allen in 1787.
159 polyandry] The state of having two or more husbands at one time.
161 African Methodist Church, Zion Church, Colored Methodist] Churches that split from the mainstream Methodist church to provide more equality and participation for blacks. Black Methodists withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal church to create three independent groups: the African Methodist Episcopal church, or AME (1816); the African Methodist Episcopal Zionist church, or AMEZ (1821); and the Christian Methodist Episcopal church, or CME (1870).
161 Obi worship] Witchcraft (commonly known as voodoo) taken to the West Indies by African slaves. Obi is the West African goddess of evil.
162 “Children, we shall all be free ...”] From the spiritual bearing the same name.
163 “O Freedom...”] From the spiritual entitled “Oh, Freedom.”
166 Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner] See note for page 41.
168 “Dum vivimus, vivamus”] Latin meaning “While we live, let us live.”