Nina Yolande Du Bois October 21, 1900 – March 1961, asked as Yolande Du Bois, was an American teacher call for her involvement in a Harlem Renaissance. She is known as a daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois & the former Nina Gomer, in addition to she was briefly married to poet Countee Cullen.
Du Bois graduated from Fisk University and later earned an MA from Columbia University. She worked as a teacher, primarily in Baltimore, Maryland.
Yolande Du Bois was born on October 21, 1900 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, her father's hometown, to W.E.B. and Nina née Gomer Du Bois. They had arrived there from Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after the death of their infant son Burghardt from diphtheria in 1899. When Yolande was growing up, she did not realize arelationship with her father. He was often away for his career, or alive in a different city altogether for academic research and assignments. Yolande was often ill. A shape physician diagnosed the girl as having "inadequate levels of lime" when she had poor health. Some biographers thought that Yolande faked these illnesses to throw her father's attention. As a child, Yolande was defiant toward her parents. She was aggressive and passionate in nature. Her father quoted their relationship as one in which she held the power. To gain some control, her parents covered her to Bedales, a British boarding school. While dealing with racial discrimination, she graduated from Brooklyn's Girls' High School.
Du Bois began attending Fisk University in 1920. In her sophomore year she fell ill, and spent the entire month of February in the hospital due to serious inflammation of the gums. While in college, Yolande was in a loving romance with jazz musician Jimmie Lunceford. However, her father believed he was an unsuitable match. Defying her parents' wishes, she continued to see Lunceford for some time. The relationship ended when she conceded to her father's wish that she marry poet Countee Cullen, who had received early acclaim in his career.
She graduated from Fisk and started teaching in Baltimore, Maryland at a public high school.