Du Bois's Pioneering Data Visualizations: Intent, data, and the counter-narrative

Transcript

1. Du Bois's Pioneering Data Visualizations Intent, Data, and Counter-Narrative Anthony Starks
2. “Some mornings as I look about upon the two or three hundred of my companions assembled for morning prayers I can hardly realize they are all my people; that this great assembly of youth and intelligence are representatives of a race which twenty years ago was in bondage.” Letter from Du Bois to Pastor Scudder, Feb 3, 1886 W.E.B. Du Bois at Fisk, circa 1885
3. The Philadelphia Negro, 1897 “This inquiry extended over a period of fifteen months, and sought to ascertain something of the geographical distribution of this race, their organizations, and above all their relation to their million white fellow-citizens”
4. In 1900, it began with them… Thomas J. Calloway Du Bois in Paris
5. …and Atlanta Universty Atlanta University Debating Team, c. 1900 Women seated on steps at Atlanta University c. 1900
6. Calloway's Letter to Black Leaders “… thousands upon thousands will go [to the fair], and a well selected and prepared exhibit, representing the Negro's development in his churches, his schools, his homes, his farms, his stores, his professions and pursuits in general will attract attention and do a great and lasting good in convincing thinking people of the possibilities of the Negro.”
7. Paris 1900
8. Historical Context 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 “Black America” Fair Plessy v. Ferguson Phila. Negro begins Wilmington Overthrow Lynchings Peak Paris Exposition
9. The Counter-Narrative
10. Saloon Ad, Philadelphia, 1886 Young Woman, ca. 1900
11. Foh yo' birfday, 1890 Young Girl, ca. 1900
12. Uncle Tom's Cabin. On the Levee, 1899 Family Group, ca. 1900
13. Calloway's Ten Goals Report of The Commissioner-General for the United States to the International Universal Exposition, Paris 1900, Vol. II, pg. 463
14. Something of the Negro’s history Education of the race Effects of education upon illiteracy Effects of education upon occupation Effects of education upon property The Negro’s mental development as shown by the books, high class pamphlets, newspapers, and other periodicals His mechanical genius as shown by patents granted to American negroes Business and industrial development in general What the Negro is doing for himself though his own separate church organizations, particularly in the work of education A general sociological study of the racial conditions in the United States.
15. Something of the negro's history
16. Education of the race
17. Effects of education upon illiteracy
18. Effects of education upon occupation
19. Effects of education upon property
20. The negro's mental development as shown by the books, high-class pamphlets, newspapers, and other periodicals written or edited by members of the race
21. His mechanical genius as shown by patents granted to American negroes
22. Business and industrial development in general
23. What the negro is doing for himself through his own separate church organizations, particularly in the work of education
24. A general sociological study of the racial conditions in the United States
25. We are here This is who we are This is how far we have come
28. 22” 28”
29. 1900: Du Bois Originals
30. 2019: Starks re-creations
31. 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Dubois Challege 2021-2026
32. In 2021, it began with them Allen Hillery (@AlDataVizGuy) Sekou Tyler (@sqlsekou)
33. Now: Modern Megaphone Your Message
34. Pen, Ink, Watercolor, Paper, Expos 1900 Scripting, Digital Fonts, PDF, Internet Today
35. #DuboisChallege2026
36. 1: Feb 9 2: Feb 16 3: Feb 23 4: Mar 2 5: Mar 9 6: Mar 16 7: Mar 23 8: Mar 30 9: Apr 6 10: Apr 13 The Du Bois Challenge 2026: Maps
37. BlueSky X DVS Slack Linkedin Mastodon Venues:
38. Using github
39. Announcement Thread ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
40. Week 1 “The Georgia Negro, A Social Study” shows the transatlantic slave trade, with routes from Europe, Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, highlighting Georgia. This visual contains Du Bois' famous assertion: “The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line”
41. Week 2 This map of the US shows the distribution of Black people at the turn of the twentieth century. Ranging from 75,000 and over in Georgia to less than 10,000 in the western states.
42. Week 3 This chart shows the Black population in the Georgia counties ranges from over 30,000 in the south east to under 1000 in the north and southern portions of the state. The most prevalent category is in the 5-10,000 Black people distributed throughout the state.
43. Week 4 “Negro Population of Georgia by County”, is a choropleth map with a alternating left-right pattern, comparing the population of Black Georgians in the years 1870 and 1890. Note the decrease of lightly populated areas, with the heavily populated areas in red shifting west.
44. Week 5 The migration to and from Georgia to other the states of the US is shown in this visual. The map shows how the state with a large Black population originated, and where they were dispersed to.
45. Week 6 Land ownership was an indicator of economic and social development, as depicted in this choropleth of the state of Georgia shows.
46. Week 7 Serving as the introductory display, this chart shows the full Du Bois color palette. The chart includes bi-lingual text, a map of the Black population in the US, and a familiar pie chart showing professions in the population.
47. Week 8 Yet another way to the distribution of Black people in America, this chart uses number of people per square mile, ranging from 15-15 in southern states like Georgia and Mississippi, to less than 1 person/square mile in the west and upper mid-west.
48. Week 9 This chart of small multiples, compares the population of Blacks in America with various countries (Spain, Australia, Norway/Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Bavaria, and England).
49. Week 10 This chart shows the proportion of Blacks in total population of the US is compared from 1800 (one-fifth, 20%) to 1890 (one-eighth, 12.5%) The sizes are shown as superimposed maps: a land within another land.
50. Sundown Towns Dr. Leia Belt and Anthony Starks
51. Complete Sets Hemed Lungo Xiong- Biao John Russell
52. References African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits Black Lives 1900 Du Bois Visualization Style Guide Du Bois Challenge 2026 Re-creation repo Du Bois and Modern Data repo Credo Digital Library https://www.loc.gov/collections/african-american-photographs-1900-paris-exposition/ https://papress.com/products/w-e-b-du-boiss-data-portraits-visualizing-black-america https://www.artbook.com/9781942884538.html https://github.com/ajstarks/dubois-data-portraits/blob/master/dubois-style.pdf https://github.com/ajstarks/dubois-data-portraits/blob/master/challenge/2026/README.md https://github.com/ajstarks/dubois-data-portraits https://github.com/ajstarks/modern-dubois-viz https://credo.library.umass.edu/
53. Anthony J. Starks Art + Code info@ajstarks.org github.com/ajstarks speakerdeck.com/ajstarks @ajstarks @ajstarks.bsky.social linkedin.com/in/ajstarks