WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Philadelphia is pleased and proud to honor the life and work of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and declares October 25th as “Dr. W.E.B. DuBois Day” in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, On October 25th , the City’s Mural Arts Program and representatives from the University of Pennsylvania will unveil a new mural, located at 6th and South Streets, dedicated to the life and work of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois; and
WHEREAS, Dr. William Edward Burghardt DuBois (“Dr. DuBois”) was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and received his undergraduate degree from Fisk University and graduate degrees from Harvard University and became one of America’s leading scholars and international leaders; and
WHEREAS, Following the jailing of a Black colleague from Harvard (William Monroe Trotter) on trumped-up charges, Dr. DuBois organized a group of 29 men from 14 states into the “Niagara Movement,” which three years later merged with other individuals to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”); and
WHEREAS, Dr. DuBois was well known as an author, educator, and founder of the NAACP, one of his seminal works was entitled
The Philadelphia Negro
, where he was commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania to complete a study on African Americans living in Philadelphia between 7th Street and the Schuylkill River and South Street to Spruce Street; and
WHEREAS, With little assistance from the University, Dr. DuBois conducted an extensive door-to-door survey of the African American population of this neighborhood, and this fairly unusual approach to research made
The Philadelphia Negro
noteworthy and enabled Dr. DuBois to successfully re-frame the “Negro problem” as the problems that Blacks faced, namely racial discrimination in employment, housing, education, and voting and offered a message about racial inequality and community violence that is still relevant today; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby declare October 25th as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois Day in Philadelphia and congratulate the City’s Mural Arts Program for unveiling a new mural to honor Dr. DuBois.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Arthur McFarlane, the great-grandson of Dr. DuBois, as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
End