Bradford's and Bumstead's original plan was to hold conferences and present general social problems faced by African-Americans in major cities.
[1] According to president Bumstead,“We are simply to study human life under certain conditions- conditions which, if repeated with any other race, would have practically the same result”.
[2] He considered that the employments of city Negroes are different from those of their rural brethren, agriculture being replaced by trade, or the various form of personal service, and to some extent by mercantile and professional pursuits.
[3] Another reason Bumstead wanted to study Negroes was because he thought that their problems and living conditions received little attention.
[1] His findings indicated that there was an alarming increase in the death of the Negro population of cities and large towns from problems of drunkenness, ignorance, poverty, and neglect.
Du Bois, students and colleagues used participant observation, surveyed individuals, historical research, and census data to get more accurate results.
[1][11] The Atlanta Sociological Laboratory was the first university department to exercise method and theory triangulation, and the first to use insider researchers.
the kindergarten system of the city of Atlanta, white as well as black; the Negro Business League, and various projects to better health and combat crime” were all inspired by Du Bois's work.
Du Bois reasons for resigning included lack of advertising on his behalf, “Either I myself or someone for me should have called public attention to what had been done or otherwise it would quickly forgotten.
[9][1] Du Bois faced great adversary while conducting the Negro studies that lead to his resignation, for example funding became an issue because of there was a lack of support that came from the state of Georgia to Atlanta University.
[9][1] Because of the racial tensions in the South during the time in which Du Bois lived, it was hard to get information about minorities without disrupting Jim Crow laws.
Work’s contributions to the Atlanta University Publications include reports on religion and crime that were published in the 1903 and 1904 monographs and a 1917 offering on economic cooperation”.
Quotes by Du Bois include “So far as the American world of science and letters as concerned, we never “belonged”; we remained unrecognized in learned societies and academic groups.