W.E.B. Du Bois Launches Atlanta University Studies on Black American Life

W.E.B. Du Bois joined Atlanta University in 1897 and launched the Atlanta University Studies — the first systematic sociological research program on Black American life. His annual studies examined mortality, economic conditions, education, and crime using rigorous empirical methods a decade before sociology was established as an academic discipline. His 1899 study 'The Philadelphia Negro' was the founding document of American urban sociology.