Double Consciousness

We have talked a little about Charles Eastman, Class of 1887, in a past blog post in relation to the Osage and his work for the Department of the Interior, but this week we found a very cool connection we didn't know existed. In 1911, Eastman was invited to the "First Universal Races Congress" to represent the American Indian. Eastman spoke on the tensions between integration into white society verses a preservation of cultural values and beliefs. He seemed to come to the conclusion that both were possible--perhaps as a direct result of his own life story where he lived a rich life by keeping a foot in both worlds.

What knocked us out was this picture on the pages listing the speakers. There's Eastman staring right at W. E. B. Du Bois. They both addressed the Congress in the same session so they must have hung out together. Another interesting tidbit from the day, in attendance (though not a speaker) was the not-yet-famous (and-not-yet Mahatma) lawyer from Johannesburg, Mahondus Gandhi.

For the next month (June 2026) there is a great exhibit devoted to Eastman in our lobby. Stop by and take a look! After that, you can see the program pictured here by asking for Eastman's Alumni file. The proceedings from the First Universal Races Congress are out at the LCSF so they are easy to get to by requesting them in the catalog.