The reputation of the black writer and activist W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) has recently undergone an enormous resurgence. In his 1994 Pulitzer-Prize-winning biography, W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, David Levering Lewis celebrated Du Bois as the “primary architect of the civil rights movement.” The U.S. Postal Service paid homage to Harvard’s first black Ph.D. by placing his visage on a commemorative stamp. Within the next year, PBS will broadcast two sympathetic documentaries chronicling his life. And on the college lecture circuit, whether the speaker is Jesse Jackson or Dinesh D’Souza, Du Bois is one of today’s most quotable figures.

Last month, seeking to elevate Du Bois onto an even higher plane, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst officially named its library in his honor. The tower library is the tallest building on campus and, at twenty-six stories, is among the tallest public buildings i ...

This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase