Book Report: W.E.B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits
An Intersection of Design and Black History
At some point, you may have seen one or two of these charts without much context. The creation of 63 “data portraits” by W.E.B. Du Bois and his team, were supposed to be proof. Beautifully represented information demonstrating the progress of black development in a recently emancipated United States. Du Bois’s work, “The American Negro Exhibit” featured at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, won Grand Prix and a gold medal, yet until recently, it remained largely unknown.
William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, born in Massachusetts in 1868, came to Atlanta University in 1897, after studies abroad in Berlin at Fisk University, and becoming the first black man to graduate with a PhD from Harvard University. Du Bois once described Atlanta, “South of the North, yet North of the South, lies the City of a Hundred Hills, peering out from the shadows of the past into the promise of the future.”
His work was interested in seeing that promise come to bear. A professor of history, sociology and economics, Du Bois and his Atlanta University team conducted a census of the Negro population in Georgia. Former southern slaves had only been free for a short time, and no one had ever collected data on their lifestyles and accomplishments as equals. The study(apart from its Paris accolades) was the first of its kind in the history of the United States. With limited funding, he along with his students, compiled research and created an effective system of visualizing data.
—
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race–which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair–will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization.”
—
Du Bois stated, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race – which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair – will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization.”
He often spoke about “the color line” and utilized color and linework quite literally to illustrate his point. Completely drawn by hand, the charts also combine strong typography, abstract shapes, and an overall hierarchy and gestalt. These charts predate well-known art movements like De Stijl and Bauhaus, and one can imagine their influence as they arrived in Europe in 1900.
The plates of these “portraits” now live in the Library of Congress. They were among the first of their kind in what we now simply call, “infographics.” Using design, Du Bois transformed data into images most clear, concise, beautiful and interesting. We aspire to accomplish the same in our work as this hallmark body of research, history, and art.
