One of the most powerful examples of data visualization was made 118 years ago by an all-black team led by W.E.B. Du Bois only 37 years after the end of Slavery in the United States.

While Du Bois’ legacy is cemented in American history, his data visualizations remain relatively unknown. This four-part series will explore many of the individual charts from a design perspective and will cover:

I. The Exhibit of American Negroes:

This article introduces the 1900 Paris Exposition and I’ll discuss a few notable charts that focus on history and population growth.

III. Design, innovation and statistical chart making in 1899:

I’ll explore the visual design of Du Bois’ approach as viewed through the aesthetics of the time and as a potential precursor to modernism.

IV. Du Bois as Social Scientist and the Legacy of “The Exhibit of American Negroes”:

To close out the series I’ll discuss Du Bois’ body of work from this period and his frustrations with sociology despite widespread attention.

While I am by no means a historian or academic, I am passionate about Du Bois’ story and will discuss it through the lens of a UX Designer working in data visualization. My hope is that these posts inspire more academics, designers, and data visualization specialists to explore this work further in order to place the work into the proper historical significance it deserves.