Editorial Board:
Editor:
George H. Conklin,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Board:
Rebecca Adams,
 UNC-Greensboro

Bob Davis,
 North Carolina
 Agricultural and
 Technical State
 University

Catherine Harris,
 Wake Forest
 University

Ella Keller,
 Fayetteville
 State University

Ken Land,
 Duke University

Miles Simpson,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Ron Wimberley,
 N.C. State University

Robert Wortham,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Editorial Assistants

John W.M. Russell,
 Technical
 Consultant

Austin W. Ashe,
 Duke University

® 

Volume 9, Number 1

Spring/Summer 2011
 

Book Review of:
Morals and Manners Among Negro Americans.  A reprint of the 1914 edition by W.E.B Du Bois and Augustus Granville Dill, Editors ([1914] 2011with an introduction and additional editing by Robert A. Wortham

2011:  ISBN: 9780739116708 by Robert
Wortham.  Lanham, MD:  Lexington Books.

Reviewed by

Dan Green

    In 1969, Elliott Rudwick unceremoniously informed us, unbeknownst to many, if not most, that W.E.B. Du Bois began his illustrious career as a sociologist.  Further, he informed us that Du Bois was a pioneer among American sociologists, who, in an abbreviated career, performed a considerable amount of empirical research well before such research was the standard.  Tragically, as Rudwick tells us, Du Bois had been forgotten and neglected by the discipline.  In lifting the veil that had enshrouded Du Bois' sociological career for the better part of a century, Rudwick set the stage for analyses of Du Bois' sociological writings.

    Following Rudwick's revelation, slowly, and then with increasing speed, the literature about Du Bois and various aspects of his sociology mushroomed.  The 'Du Bois well' still flows and is not about to slow down.  As an empirical sociologist nonpareil, Du Bois was also a most prolific writer.  Unfortunately, many of his studies are not readily available.  Among his most significant contributions to the fledgling field of sociology are the Atlanta University publications, a series of annual empirical studies that he edited from 1898 to 1914.  These annual monographs on selected aspects of Negro life were unparalleled in the formative years of American sociology, and have been hailed as the first efforts to study scientifically the problems of the Negro.  

    In 1897, Du Bois, fresh from completing his sociological magnum opus, The Philadelphia Negro, was hired by Atlanta University as Professor of economics and history, and as Director of the Sociological Laboratory and the Atlanta University Conferences.  Under his firm and expert guidance, the research of the Studies became more rigorous as he established a long-range program whereby one study, as valid and reliable as funds would permit, would be completed annually.  Announcing his new program, he declared that the Negro deserves to be studied to further the scientific study of human behavior as well as  the first step toward solving the Negro problem.  Du Bois' intent was to gather a basic body of facts concerning the social condition of American Negroes, attempting to measure that condition whenever possible.  His explicit purpose was pure scientific research; secondarily, he conceded the value of the studies as a basis for social reform. 
 
   Although Du Bois' Atlanta Studies have been criticized for various reasons, one of which is the lack of social theory behind the research, they represent a serious effort to introduce systematic induction into the field of race relations when other sociologists were more than content to speculate about the Negro's condition.  It is not difficult to find fault with almost any aspect of the Atlanta Studies, especially when judged by contemporary standards, however, we must not lose sight of the fact that Du Bois was a pioneer forging a path, greatly hampered along the way by the meager funding he received for his work.  Du Bois was well aware of the inadequacies of his research and claimed that his work suffered because of the inability to convince others of the "burning necessity of work of this sort and its deep scientific significance."  He referred to his work as "wretchedly restricted pioneer work," which he claimed needed to be done, and “we are doing it better than anyone else.”  His assertion was correct.

    The Atlanta Study that Robert Wortham chose to edit, Morals and Manners among Negro Americans  (1914) is a sequel to an earlier Atlanta Study, The Negro Church (1903). The latter is significant as the first book-length, empirical sociological study of a religious group in the United States.  For the most part, the Atlanta Studies have been republished as a set meaning that they are not readily available for classroom use.  Wortham's edition of this Atlanta Study gives us "two for the price of one."  We have a reasonably priced edition of one of Du Bois' original studies giving students an opportunity to read a pioneering sociological study, plus Wortham's cogent and informative commentary about Du Bois' sociological career as well as significant commentary about the condition of morals and manners.  

    The Negro Church focused on the history and organization of the Negro church, and a statistical picture of the black church in America concluding with a brief discussion of the moral status of African Americans.  The sequel, Morals and Manners among African Americans is based on a survey sent to 4,000 individuals by Du Bois and Dill on the moral condition among black Americans, focusing on manners, morals, habits of cleanliness, personal honesty, home life, child rearing, wholesome amusement for young people, and caring for the elderly.  The majority of the report is devoted to a discussion of the general findings of the survey data with appropriate qualitative comments from the respondents.

    That which makes this reprint of original research by a pioneer American sociologist unique is that Wortham has carefully and systematically codified the survey findings in tabular form, and draws empirically-based conclusions from the data.  Also, he relates aspects of the original report to commentary by modern sociologists showing how Du Bois had anticipated comparable phenomena.  This also shows that the Studies were not as devoid of theory as has been thought.  Robert Wortham is to be applauded for making this long out-of-print study, Du Bois’ final Atlanta University Study, available as well as for the relevant and insightful commentary in his Introduction.  

If you haven't read any of Du Bois' original research, this slim volume is a great place to start.  After all, W.E.B. Du Bois is the founder of the sociological tradition that we all practice. 
 

 Return to the Spring/Summer 2011 Issue of Sociation Today