Dubois, Rachel Davis

Rachel Davis DuBois (1892-1993) was a Quaker educator, writer, and a pioneer in interfaith and interracial dialogue and intercultural education.

Rachel Davis DuBois (1892- ) was born in Clarkesboro, New Jersey, the daughter of Quaker farmers. She attended Bucknell University and taught school in New Jersey until 1920. From 1920 to 1924, she was active in the peace movement. Subsequently, the improvement of racial and ethnic group relations and development of greater appreciation for American society's diverse cultural strains became her life's work. While teaching at Woodbury High School, Woodbury, N.J., she helped develop the assembly-program technique for improving group relations. The technique combined assembly programs on contributions of various ethnic or racial groups to American life with follow-up curricular materials.

After moving to New York City in 1929, DuBois initiated and participated in a series of intercultural curriculum experiments in schools in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pa., and Englewood, N.J. She received her Ph. D. in educational sociology from New York University. In 1934, DuBois founded the Service Bureau for Education in Human Relations, later identified as the Service Bureau for Intercultural Education.

In 1941, DuBois founded the Intercultural Education Workshop, later called the Workshop for Cultural Democracy. It remained in existence until about 1958. In 1951, DuBois was sent to Germany to aid in post-war reconstruction. When she returned, the Workshop focused its efforts on programs to train "trainers of leaders" on a nation-wide basis. After its dissolution ca. 1958, DuBois was invited by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to lead a program to lessen race tensions in the South. Her lifetime activities as educator, author, lecturer and organizational leader earned her many commendations and distinctions.

Rachel Davis DuBois (1892- ) was born in Clarkesboro, New Jersey, the daughter of Quaker farmers. She attended Bucknell University and taught school in New Jersey until 1920. From 1920 to 1924, she was active in the peace movement. Subsequently, the improvement of racial and ethnic group relations and development of greater appreciation for American society's diverse cultural strains became her life's work. While teaching at Woodbury High School, Woodbury, N.J., she helped develop the assembly-program technique for improving group relations. The technique combined assembly programs on contributions of various ethnic or racial groups to American life with follow-up curricular materials.

After moving to New York City in 1929, DuBois initiated and participated in a series of intercultural curriculum experiments in schools in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pa., and Englewood, N.J. She received her Ph.D. in educational sociology from New York University. In 1934, DuBois founded the Service Bureau for Education in Human Relations, later identified as the Service Bureau for Intercultural Education.

In 1941, DuBois founded the Intercultural Education Workshop, later called the Workshop for Cultural Democracy. It remained in existence until about 1958. In 1951, DuBois was sent to Germany to aid in post-war reconstruction. When she returned, the Workshop focused its efforts on programs to train "trainers of leaders" on a nation-wide basis. After its dissolution ca. 1958, DuBois was invited by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to lead a program to lessen race tensions in the South. Her lifetime activities as educator, author, lecturer and organizational leader earned her many commendations and distinctions.