In 1896, W.E.B. DuBois began research that resulted three years later in the publication of his great classic of urban sociology and history, The Philadelphia Negro. Today, a group of the nation's leading historians and sociologists celebrate the centenary of his project through a reappraisal of his book.

Motivated by DuBois's deeply humane vision of racial equality, they draw on ethnography, intellectual and social history, and statistical analysis to situate DuBois and his pioneering study in the intellectual milieu of the late nineteenth century, consider his contributions to the subsequent social scientific and historical studies of the city, and assess the meaning of his work for today.