W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits Visualizing Black America

"As visually arresting as it is informative."—The Boston Globe

"Du Bois's bold colors and geometric shapes were decades ahead of modernist graphic design in America."—Fast Company's Co.Design

W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits is the first complete publication of W.E.B. Du Bois's groundbreaking charts, graphs, and maps presented at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Famed sociologist, writer, and Black rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois fundamentally changed the representation of Black Americans with his exhibition of data visualizations at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Beautiful in design and powerful in content, these data portraits make visible a wide spectrum of African American culture, from advances in education to the lingering effects of slavery. They convey a literal and figurative representation of what he famously referred to as "the color line," collected here in full color for the first time.

A landmark collection for social history, graphic design, and data science, these visualizations and infographics were far ahead of their time. This comprehensive publication gives modern readers a chance to explore and enjoy:

• Colorful graphs and charts that are mesmerizing pieces of art in their own right
• Content that makes a valuable companion to W.E. B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk
• Contributions from renowned scholars and educators Aldon Morris, Silas Munro, and Mabel O. Wilson

 
W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits is an informative and provocative history, data, and graphic design book that resonates with readers as a timeless and invaluable resource. Perfect for collectors of African American studies books, reference material for Black History Month and beyond, and gift-giving to designers, artists, and sociology enthusiasts.

Whitney Battle-Baptiste is the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center at University of Massachusetts Amherst and an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is the author of Black Feminist Archaeology.

Britt Rusert is an assistant professor in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of Fugitive Science: Empiricism and Freedom in Early African American Culture.