Background image: black and white photograph of rows of Black men in suits walking down a city street. Foreground image: an orange book cover featuring a black and white portrait photograph of a Black man wearing a doughboy helmet. Text: 'The Wounded World / W.E.B. Du Bois and WWI'

The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois & WWI

Monday, June 19 - 6:30 p.m. Auditorium and YouTube Live
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Believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, W.E.B. Du Bois encouraged African Americans to “close ranks” and support the Allied cause in WWI. Haunted by his decision, Du Bois sought intellectual clarity and personal atonement through writing the definitive history of Black participation in WWI—a manuscript that ultimately remained unfinished.

Drawing on a broad range of sources including Du Bois’s manuscript, professor and award-winning author Chad Williams’ new book explores a sweeping story of hope, betrayal, disillusionment and transformation, illuminating new insights on the broader meanings of race and democracy for Black people in the twentieth century. As we celebrate Juneteenth, learn more about the most influential scholar-activist in African American history in this compelling lecture, hosted in partnership with the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Black History Study Group.

Free with RSVP | Auditorium and Online