Rachel Davis DuBois

Rachel Davis DuBois (January 25, 1892 - March 30, 1993) was an American educator, human rights activist and pioneer of intercultural education.

Early life

Rachel Davis Dubois was born on January 25, 1892, in the Clarksboro section of East Greenwich Township, New Jersey. The sessions were very popular with students and fellow teachers, but members of the community did not approve of DuBois's views on racial equality, women's rights and pacifism. At the urging of the local American Legion, she was asked to resign. However, DuBois was a tenured teacher; thus, she was able to retain her position and continue with the assemblies. DuBois continued in this capacity until her resignation in 1930, when she left to attend Teachers College at Columbia University. She wanted to "study how attitudes are formed and can be changed." Group conversation is a technique in which people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds come together and discuss various topics, such as spring festivals, in order to discover their underlying commonalities.

Death A resident of Woodstown, New Jersey, she died at age 101 on March 30,1993.

Books and other writings Source: Pioneers of the New World, (1930). A School and Community Project in Developing Sympathetic Attitudes toward Other Races and Nations, (1934). The Jews in American Life, (1935). With Emma Schweppe. The Germans in American Life, (1936). With Emma Schweppe. Methods of Achieving Racial Justice: Discussion Outline for Church, School and Adult Education Groups, (1936). Bantu Beliefs and Magic: with Particular Reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba Tribes of Kenya Colony; Together with Some Reflections on East Africa after the War, (1938). Adventures in Intercultural Education: A Manual for Secondary School Teachers, (1938). National Unity through Intercultural Education, (1940). Get Together Americans: Friendly Approaches to Racial and Cultural Conflicts through the Neighborhood-Home Festival, (1943). Build Together Americans: Adventures in Intercultural Education for the Secondary School, (1945). Neighbors in Action: A Manual for Local Leaders in Intergroup Relations, (1950). Know Your Neighbors: A Handbook for Group Conversation Leaders, (1955). The Art of Group Conversation: A New Breakthrough in Social Communication, (1963). A Handbook for Leaders of Quaker Dialogues, (1964). Reducing Social Tension and Conflict through the Group Conversation Method, (1971). Deepening Quaker Faith and Practice through the Use of the Three-Session Quaker Dialogue, (1976). All This and Something More: Pioneering in Intercultural Education, (1984).

Archival collections

The Rachel Davis Dubois Papers held at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Rachel Davis DuBois papers. Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.