William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the son of Alfred Du Bois and Mary Silvina Burghardt Du Bois. From an early age, Du Bois excelled at school. After graduating valedictorian of his high school class, he enrolled at Fisk University in Tennessee. Du Bois graduated from Fisk in the spring of 1888.
