W. E. B. Du Bois - Personal Life

Personal Life

Du Bois was organized and disciplined: His lifelong regimen was to rise at 7:15, work until 5, eat dinner and read a newspaper until 7, then read or socialize until he was in bed, invariably before 10. He was a meticulous planner, and frequently mapped out his schedules and goals on large pieces of graph paper. Many acquaintances found him to be distant and aloof, and he insisted on being addressed as "Dr. Du Bois". Although he was not gregarious, he formed several close friendships with associates such as Charles Young, Paul Laurence Dunbar, John Hope and Mary Ovington. His closest friend was Joel Spingarn – a white man – but Du Bois never accepted Spingarn's offer to be on a first name basis. Du Bois was something of a dandy – he dressed formally, carried a walking stick, and walked with an air of confidence and dignity. He was relatively short 5 feet 5.5 inches (166 cm) and always maintained a well-groomed mustache and goatee. He was a good singer and enjoyed playing tennis.

Du Bois was married twice, first to Nina Gomer (m. 1896, d. 1950), with whom he had two children, a son Burghardt (who died as an infant) and a daughter Yolande, who married Countee Cullen. As a widower, he married Shirley Graham (m. 1951, d. 1977), an author, playwright, composer and activist. She brought her son David Graham to the marriage. David grew close to Du Bois and took his stepfather's name; he also worked for African-American causes. The historian David Levering Lewis wrote that Du Bois engaged in several extramarital relationships. But the historian Raymond Wolters cast doubt on this, based on the lack of corroboration from Du Bois's alleged lovers.