7. W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, ed., The College-Bred Negro: Report of a Social Study Made Under the Direction of Atlanta University; Together with the Proceedings of the Fifth Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, Held at Atlanta University, May 29-30, 1900, Atlanta University Publications no. 5 (Atlanta, GA: Atlanta University Press, 1900). (118 p.)


Quantitative study of higher education for African Americans in the United States, including a list of white colleges graduating black students. Page 90 provides the results of a survey taken at the conference in which participants responded to the question, “Are you hopeful for the future of the Negro in this country?” Of the 733 responses tabulated, 641 (88%) were categorized as hopeful, 40 (5%) were doubtful, and 52 (7%) were not hopeful. Approximately 160 anonymous excerpts from the participants’ responses appear on pages 91-102. A quotation from one of these excerpts is reprinted inside the back cover. “I believe this to be the ‘Strum and Drang’ period of the Negro’s existence. I am aware of the strong arguments against such a position, but in the light of the teaching of history, there must be, there is, a turning point down near the Gates of Despair, where once the opposing currents are mastered. Brighter and better conditions must arise.” The speaker begins the complete excerpt with the statement, “I am optimistic in spite of the lowering clouds.”