Although the 100th anniversary was technically in 2003, Charles Lemert, Andrus professor of sociology at Wesleyan, thought it was still important to celebrate a literary work that had profound impact on America during the entire 1900s.

"It rallied the Negro American community to self-pride and understanding and, because it was so beautifully written, it drew attention of white people who never looked at civil rights issues before," said Lemert.

Lemert said the effect of the work can be felt from the year of it’s publishing in 1903 until the civil right fights of the 1960s.

The university will bring together some of the most respected sociologists and race leaders from around the country to comment and discuss the literary work.

"These speakers are nationally renowned as experts in the field of race relations," said Lemert.

The event will center around four lectures by Alford A. Young Jr., a professor of sociology, Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan; Elizabeth Higginbotham, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware; and Jerry G. Watts, professor of American studies at Trinity College and professor of English at the CUNY graduate center.

All three will deliver separate lectures with Young discussing "W.E.B. Du Bois and the Souls of Urban Ethnography," Higginbotham speaking on "Searching for the Souls of Black Women: W.E.B. Du Bois’s Contribution," and Watts delivering a lecture called "Du Bois, Souls, and the Crisis of Black Intellectuals."

The day will conclude with a final lecture by Young, Higginbotham, Watts and Lemert called "The Souls of Black Folk and Social Thought: 1903-2003 and After," according to a press release.

All three speakers have deep backgrounds in African American issues and history.

"Young has completed research on race, urban poverty and young black men in Chicago’s most distant ghettos," according to the release. "Higginbotham is a major figure in the Memphis research group on Black Women in America as well as a feminist scholar."

The lectures are sponsored by the Edward W. Snowdon Fund, the Matthew Lemert Endowment, Dean of Social Sciences, the Public Affairs Center, African American Studies Program, Women’s Studies Program and the Department of Sociology.

The lectures will start at 10:30 a.m. and will be held at the Memorial Chapel.

To contact Szymon Twarog, call (860)347-3331 Ext. 220 or email stwarog@middletownpress.com.