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Rhodes professor wrote the book and so much more on W.E.B. DuBois

By , Daily Memphian Updated: July 16, 2024 5:51 PM CT | Published: July 15, 2024 4:00 AM CT

Earl Wright II, one of the nation’s leading scholars on W.E.B. DuBois, grew up in North Memphis and planned to teach at Trezevant High, his alma mater.

He wanted to teach because teachers also coach. That was his dream.

But Elizabeth Higginbotham, a sociology professor at then-Memphis State, recognized the quality of his mind and insisted Wright apply to graduate school.


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She was relentless.

Three decades later, Wright is chairman of the sociology department at Rhodes College, has just had his sixth book published — “An Introduction to W. E. B. Du Bois” which he co-wrote with former student Kalasia S. Ojeh, a sociologist at Kean University in Union, New Jersey.

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Earl Wright II Rhodes College W.E.B. DuBois Subscriber Only

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Jane Roberts

Jane Roberts

Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.


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