W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a radical attacker of injustice and defender of freedom for blacks, considered one of the most influential black leaders of the first half of the twentieth century. Du Bois helped to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Between 1897 and 1914 Du Bois conducted many studies of black society in America and published sixteen research papers on his findings, He began these investigations with the belief that social science could provide answers to racial problems—however Du Bois gradually concluded that in a climate of racism, social change could only be accomplished through agitation and protest. Initially, Du Bois was a firm supporter of black capitalism, but slowly he edged to the left until by 1905 he was drawn to Socialism and Marxism. In 1961 Du Bois became disillusioned with the United States and moved to Ghana, joined the Communist Party and one year later renounced his American citizenship. Du Bois died in 1963 in Accra, shortly after becoming a Ghanaian citizen.