ABSTRACT
The Philadelphia Negro was the path-breaking work of a young W. E. B. Du Bois, optimistically embarking on an academic career with the hope of bringing about social change through research. Du Bois moved to Philadelphia with his new bride in 1896, when he was just 28 years old, to conduct a study about “Negroes” for the University of Pennsylvania and College Settlement Association. The book he produced, now claimed as a classic by the fields of sociology and urban history, was as noteworthy for its social scientific research methods as it was for its findings. Du Bois was committed to empirical research, using observation, key informant interviews, door-to-door surveys, and archival research, in an era dominated by racist-driven theories about why African Americans struggled to get ahead. 1
