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W. E. B. Du Bois: A Resource Guide

Digital Resources

The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of primary source materials related to W. E. B. Du Bois. Provided below is a link to the home page for each relevant digital collection along with selected highlights.

Digital Collections

African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Book Collection

The collection presents a panoramic and eclectic review of African-American history and culture, spanning almost one hundred years from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900.

Selected highlight from this collection:

African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition

The Paris Exposition of 1900 included a display devoted to the history and "present conditions" of African Americans. W. E. B. Du Bois and special agent Thomas J. Calloway spearheaded the planning, collection and installation of the exhibit materials, which included 500 photographs. The collection contains more than 300 photographs compiled by Du Bois.

Panoramic Photographs

The collection contains approximately 4,000 images featuring American cityscapes, landscapes, and group portraits.

A selection of highlights from this collection includes:

Posters: WPA Posters

This collection consists of 907 posters produced from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the WPA. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.

A selection of highlights from this collection includes:

Rare Book Selections

The collections housed in The Rare Book and Special Collections Division amount to nearly 800,000 books, encompassing nearly all eras and subjects maintained in well over 100 separate collections. All of these collections offer scholarly documentation about the western and American traditions of life and learning.

A selection of highlights from this collection includes:

Van Vechten Collection

The collection consists of 1,395 photographs taken by American photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) between 1932 and 1964. The bulk of the collection consists of portrait photographs of celebrities, including many figures from the Harlem Renaissance.

Selected highlight from this collection:

Related Digital Resources

African American History Month

The monthly portals highlights the Library's own collections and events, they also represent a collaboration with other federal cultural heritage institutions to feature relevant materials from their institutions. Partners in the past have included the National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Library of Congress Blog

Selected blog posts include compelling stories and fascinating facts written by Library of Congress curators and librarians.

Online Exhibitions

Prints and Photographs Division

Related Research Guides

Resources for Teachers

The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations.

Today in History

Today in History is a Library of Congress presentation of historic events illuminated by items from the Library’s Digital Collections. Each essay offers search tips and links selected to encourage users to dive more deeply into the Library’s growing digital collections.