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American Masters
W.E.B. Du Bois' childhood, family and education
Born in 1868 in Massachusetts, the same year the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship and equal protection, W.E.B. Du Bois grew up in a predominantly white community where he experienced freedoms denied to most Black Americans of his time. Raised by his mother after his father abandoned the family, Du Bois was supported by a close-knit community that nurtured his intellectual gifts.
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