Kufamba kwake kuenda nekugara muSouth kwaive chiitiko chekutanga chaDu Bois neSouthern rusaruraganda, iyo panguva iyoyo yaisanganisira mitemo yaJim Crow, rusaruro, kudzvinyirira kuvhota kwevatema, uye kuuraya vanhu; iyo yekupedzisira yakasvika pakakwirira mumakore gumi anotevera. Mushure mekugamuchira dhigirii reBachelor kubva kuFisk, akapinda Harvard College (iyo isina kugamuchira makirasi echikoro kubva kuFisk) kubva muna 1888 kusvika muna 1890, kwaakakurudzirwa zvikuru napurofesa wake William James, anozivikanwa muAmerican philosophy.
Gustav von Schmoller, Adolph Wagner, uye Heinrich von Treitschke