University of San Diego Digital USD Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2003 W. E. B. Du Bois's “Talented Tenth”: A Pioneering Conception of Transformational Leadership Ella F. Sloan EdD University of San Diego Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations Part of the Leadership Studies Commons Digital USD Citation Sloan, Ella F. EdD, "W. E. B. Du Bois's “Talented Tenth”: A Pioneering Conception of Transformational Leadership" (2003). Dissertations. 721. https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/721 This Dissertation: Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. W. E. B. DU BOIS’S TALENTED TENTH": A PIONEERING CONCEPTION OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Ella F. Sloan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate o f Education Leadership and Administration University o f San Diego 2003 Dissertation Committee Steven A. Gelb, Ph.D., Chair Ronn M. Johnson, PhJD. Mary Woods Scherr, Ph.D. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. W . E. B. DU BOIS: PIONEER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... 5 Abstract.............................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER I: W. E. B. DU BOIS’S CHALLENGE TO AMERICA________________9 Introduction......................................... .......................................................................... 9 Significance of the Study................................................................................................ 11 Statement of the Issue..................................................................................................... 14 W. E. B. Du Bois Emerges as a Leader......................................................................... 16 M ethods............................................................................................................................ 18 Primary Sources.............................................................................................................. 19 Secondary Sources..........................................................................................................20 Theoretical Framework.................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE TALENTED TENTH”...................... 25 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 25 Alexander Crummell...................................................................................................... 28 Philosophical Debate with Booker T. Washington...................................................... 34 The Negro Academy.........................................__......................................................... 49 Prelude to the Niagara M ovement................................................................................. 55 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. W. E, B. DU BOIS: PIONEER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 3 The Niagara Movement............................—.................................................................. 57 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).......... 62 Conclusion................................................-----................................................................ 76 CHAPTER 3: THE LEADERSHIP OF W. E. B, DU BOIS.............................................81 Introduction........—------ -—..........................................................................................81 Questions..........................................—............................................................................83 1. What historical factors led to and influenced Du Bois’s development of the Talented Tenth strategy, and what ethical and moral values are implicit within? ................................................................................................. 83 2. What light does the Talented Tenth shed on the issue of how transformational leaders are created? ......................................... 87 3. How valid are Du Bois’s ideas for solving current problems facing the African American community, and how valid is the claim that the Talented Tenth is an integrationist theory? ........................................................... 92 4. What is the significance of Du Bois’s proposal of the Talented Tenth for reconceptualizing the idea of Transformational Leadership, and what can we learn from this theory? __________________________________101 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION_________________________________________ 104 Recommendations.......................----- ...........—.......... .............................................. I ll REFERENCES_________________________________________________________ 114 APPENDIX A __________________________________________________________ 125 W. E. B. Du Bois Leadership Institute For Young Scholars..................................... 125 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. W . E. B. DU BOIS: PIONEER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 4 APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................................128 A Chronology and Life of W. E. B. Du Bois............................. .............................. 128 Timeline........................................................... .......................................................... 129 APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................................134 The Policy and By-laws of the Negro Academy......................................................... 134 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. W. E. B. DU BOIS: PIONEER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 5 Acknowledgements In my intellectual journey at the University of San Diego, I have received guidance, support, patience, knowledge, and empathy from my professors: Drs. Steve Gelb, Mary Scherr, and Ronn Johnson, Because of them, I have grown significantly in my academic life, I found the strength to endure and persevere through personal and family illnesses, death, and traumatic life situations and experiences. These challenges have made me a more determined and stronger person. May my professors find here an expression of my sincere gratitude. Let me express special recognition of Professor Steve Gelb, my dissertation chair, and Mary Scherr, my Academic Advisor. In them, I found teachers of immense dedication and availability. I greatly appreciate their readiness to advise and willingness to assist. Dr. Gelb especially encouraged my work, giving me the time and space to heal without pressure. I learned a great deal from him. I deeply value the professor-student relationship I have had with both my dissertation chair and my academic advisor. I am indebted to many people in terms o f friendship, family, and colleagues. I want to thank all of them. It will not be possible to mention all their names, but let me simply acknowledge my debt of gratitude to my husband, Winston Sloan, who supported me, traveled in and out of the country with me, and assisted me spiritually and financially in my research. I was generously assisted by certain people in my search for various sources and information on Du Bois. I want to express my appreciation to Linda Seidman and her colleagues of the Department of Special Collections at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I also want to thank Dr. Charles Blockson, curator of a special collection of rare Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. W. E. B. DU BOIS: PIONEER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 6 and first edition books, manuscripts, and unpublished papers at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Blockson graciously opened his private office for several days and allowed me to peruse his collection. I received much encouragement, advice, and insight from Du Bois scholar, Dr. John H. Bracey, Jr., Professor in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and co-director of the documentary on Du Bois, The Great Barrington. lam equally grateful to Dr. Cornel West, whose lecture I attended at Mesa College. May they find here my deep gratitude. The following institutions were extremely valuable and helpful in my research: the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York; the Social Sciences department of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.; the Interlibrary Loan department of the Copley Library at the University of San Diego; the San Diego State University Special Collections & University Archives, and the W. E. B. Du Bois Memorial Center for Pan-African Studies in Accra, Ghana. Finally, I received much clerical, technical, and editorial support from Ellinor Taylor, Jessica Gonzales,