ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

"W.E.B. Du Bois Revisited: Re-imagining Du Bois' work from 'The Exhibit of American Negroes' from the 1900 Paris Exposition."

At the turn of the 20th century, W.E.B. Du Bois boarded a ship to Paris aiming to prove that Black Americans, newly freed and fiercely determined, could be measured not by caricature but by data, dignity, beauty and achievement.

The “Exhibit of American Negroes” at the 1900 Paris Exposition was a pioneering work of hundreds of photographs, dozens of infographics and more, all aimed at presenting on the world stage the achievements of African Americans.

Du Bois’ goal was to push back on the dominant racist narratives of the time by showing what Black Americans had been able to achieve in less than 40 years after the end of slavery. Then a professor at Atlanta University, Du Bois worked with his students and an Atlanta photographer to create the striking data visualizations and curate the photographs for the exhibit.

“We have thus, it may be seen, an honest, straightforward exhibit of a small nation of people, picturing their life and development without apology or gloss, and above all made by themselves. In a way this marks an era in the history of the Negroes of America,” Du Bois wrote.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mirtha Donastorg and Natrice Miller, under the direction of senior writer Ernie Suggs, have re-created a handful of the visualizations with contemporary economic and demographic data, and the photographs with modern looks at the lives of Black Georgians.

Reporter Mirtha Donastorg dreamt up the project and worked with data journalist Stephanie Lamm and illustrator Marcie LaCerte to do the data analysis and create the visualizations.

ABOUT THE COLLECTOR

CCH Pounder

Du Bois brought 500 photographs with him on that ship to Paris for a global audience. Many of the images were taken by Atlanta photographer Thomas Askew in the city, and they were presented as evidence of dignity, intellect and complexity even in the face of adversity. Now, 126 years later, I have returned to those images not to recreate them, but to enter into dialogue with them. Paired together, these photographs hold tension between then and now, pride and persistence, visibility and vulnerability.

Photography has always proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to Black life in America. At a time when it was used to distort, photographers like Askew used the camera to liberate and reclaim narratives. Yet Black Americans still face many of the obstacles from that period, and documentation of the culture is just as important in 2026 as it was in 1900. I hope these images can serve as not only a re-creation, but also a continuation of the work of Du Bois and Askew.