# The Souls of Black Folk — Character guide

> Key figures in The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.

- [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/narrator.md): The unnamed first-person narrator and authorial voice guiding the reader through the book's essays.
- [Booker T. Washington](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/booker_t_washington.md): Prominent Black leader and educator whose philosophy of accommodation is critically examined.
- [Alexander Crummell](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/alexander_crummell.md): Black intellectual and missionary whose life and ideals are celebrated in a dedicated chapter.
- [Josie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/josie.md): A young Black girl in rural Georgia whose aspirations are crushed by poverty and circumstance.
- [Sam Scott](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/sam_scott.md): A Black farmer in the Black Belt whose struggles illustrate post-Reconstruction economic hardship.
- [The Judge](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/the_judge.md): A white judge in the rural South who embodies local legal authority and racial prejudice.
- [Oliver O. Howard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/oliver_o_howard.md): Union general and head of the Freedmen's Bureau, later founder of Howard University.
- [Jim](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/jim.md): A Black laborer in the cotton fields whose life reflects the harsh realities of sharecropping.
- [Uncle Bird](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/uncle_bird.md): An elderly Black man in the rural South, a figure of folk wisdom and endurance.
- [Jennie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/jennie.md): A young Black woman in the rural South, sister to a local character.
- [Sam Hose](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/sam_hose.md): A Black man whose lynching is referenced as a symbol of racial terror in the South.
- [Doc Burke](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/doc_burke.md): A white doctor in the rural South who interacts with Black characters.
- [The Burkes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/the_burkes.md): A white family in the Black Belt, representing local landowning interests.
- [Fat Reuben](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/fat_reuben.md): A Black laborer in the cotton fields, known for his physical size and work.
- [Thenie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/thenie.md): A Black woman in the rural South, likely a domestic worker or family member.
- [Tildy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/tildy.md): A Black woman in the rural South, part of the local community.
- [Brother Dennis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/brother_dennis.md): A Black church elder in the rural South, a figure of religious leadership.
- [Luke Black](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/luke_black.md): A Black farmer in the Black Belt, representing the struggling agricultural class.
- [Mandy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/mandy.md): A Black woman in the rural South, likely a domestic worker or family member.
- [Michael](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/michael.md): A Black laborer in the cotton fields, part of the sharecropping system.
- [John Jones](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/john_jones.md): A Black man in the rural South, possibly a farmer or laborer.
- [The White John](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/the_white_john.md): A white man in the rural South, possibly a landowner or overseer.
- [Bishop Onderdonk](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/bishop_onderdonk.md): A historical bishop referenced in the context of religious education for Black people.
- [Andrew Jackson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/andrew_jackson.md): Former U.S. president referenced in discussions of democracy and race.
- [Frederick Douglass](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/frederick_douglass.md): Abolitionist and statesman, cited as a model of Black leadership and oratory.
- [Senator Ben Tillman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/senator_ben_tillman.md): White supremacist politician from South Carolina, criticized for his racist policies.
- [John Brown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/john_brown.md): Abolitionist whose raid on Harpers Ferry is invoked as a symbol of radical resistance.
- [Beriah Green](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/beriah_green.md): Abolitionist and educator, referenced in the context of early Black education.
- [Thomas Wentworth Higginson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/thomas_wentworth_higginson.md): Abolitionist and colonel of the first Black regiment in the Civil War.
- [Denmark Vesey](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/denmark_vesey.md): Leader of a planned slave revolt in Charleston, cited as a symbol of resistance.
- [Nat Turner](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/nat_turner.md): Leader of a slave rebellion in Virginia, referenced as a figure of Black defiance.
- [Commissioner Harris](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/commissioner_harris.md): A government official involved in Reconstruction-era policies in the South.
- [General Sherman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/general_sherman.md): Union general whose Special Field Orders promised land to freed slaves.
- [Pierce](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/pierce.md): A white landowner or official in the post-Civil War South.
- [Sells](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/sells.md): A white merchant or landowner in the rural South.
- [Price](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/price.md): A white landowner or official in the post-Civil War South.
- [Benton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/benton.md): A white landowner or official in the post-Civil War South.
- [Jason](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/jason.md): A Black man in the rural South, possibly a farmer or laborer.
- [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/jacob.md): A Black man in the rural South, possibly a farmer or laborer.
- [Young John Jay](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters/young_john_jay.md): A Black man in the rural South, possibly a farmer or laborer.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/characters