I had not learned about Du Bois in school, and there was certainly no Landmark biography about him. Carver, born only a few years earlier than Du Bois, had faced unrelenting racism during much the same time that Du Bois was active. But hadn’t Du Bois revolutionized thinking about race, correctly identifying the “color line” as the most important issue of the 20th century? I vaguely knew that Du Bois had joined the Communist Party and renounced his U.S. citizenship. And, if I live long enough, I will take him to the Du Bois Museum honoring its hometown prophet.