The Philadelphia Negro is a sociological and epidemiological study of African Americans in Philadelphia that was written by W. E. B. Du Bois, commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania and published in 1899 with the intent of identifying social problems present in the African American community. It was the first sociological case study of a black community in the United States and one of the earliest examples of sociology as a statistically based social science. The study challenged notions that Black Americans experienced poverty, illness, and deprivation because of their biological character. Du Bois gathered information for the study in the period between August 1896 and December 1897. Du Bois carefully mapped every black residence, church, and business in the city's Seventh Ward, recording occupational and family structure. Du Bois's Philadelphia research was pivotal in his reformulation of the concept of race. He deduced that, "the Negro problem looked at in one way is but the old world questions of ignorance, poverty, crime, and the dislike of the stranger." He supported these claims with examples and survey analysis breakdowns throughout the journal. Source: Wikipedia (en)