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January 1897

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Achievement · science
W.E.B. Du Bois Launches First Systematic Sociology of 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 using rigorous empirical methods. His 1899 'The Philadelphia Negro' became the founding document of American urban sociology.

Events

  1. 1897
    W.E.B. Du Bois Launches First Systematic Sociology of 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 using rigorous empirical methods. His 1899 'The Philadelphia Negro' became the founding document of American urban sociology.

  2. 1897
    Scott Joplin Emerges as Pioneer of Ragtime Music

    Scott Joplin, based in Sedalia, Missouri, began publishing the syncopated piano compositions that would define ragtime music as America's first homegrown popular music genre. His 'Original Rags' (1897) and the soon-to-follow 'Maple Leaf Rag' (1899) established the form and made him the genre's foremost composer. Ragtime, rooted in African American musical traditions, profoundly influenced all subsequent American popular music.