African American Daily Life Charts
Historical context
At the Paris Exposition in 1900, W.E.B. DuBois displayed an exhibit about the current conditions of African Americans. The exhibit included hundreds of photographs, maps, and books, as well as a series of statistical charts, created by students at Atlanta University. DuBois collected charts demonstrating various aspects of African American life, to share with the world the successes and the struggles of black Americans. This set of charts highlights daily life, including jobs, education, and personal life.
Culturally relevant pedagogy considerations
A key point made by culturally relevant pedagogy scholars is that fostering students' cultural competence growth needs to go deeper than representation. When introducing this set to students, critically consider what students are asked to do with this data and how students might respond to or connect with that data based on the cultural expertise they bring with them into the classroom. Create space for students to critically examine the data and draw connections between 1890 and today. What would happen if students decided why this data matters and how it can inform the present? What might they create?
Classroom ready resources
Using Data to Make Change (High School)
Pauperism among American Negroes
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Religion of American Negroes
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Crime among American Negroes
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Negro landholders in various states of the United States
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Proportion of whites and Negroes in the different classes of occupations in the United States
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Illiteracy of the American Negroes compared with that of other nations
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Enrollment in the Negro common schools of the former slave states of the United States
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Conjugal condition of American Negroes according to age periods
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Occupations in which 10,000 or more American Negroes are engaged
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Occupations in which American Negroes are engaged
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
American Negro newspapers and periodicals
Date: 1900
Creator: W.E.B. DuBois
Type: Chart
Contact
Meghan Davisson (meghan.davisson@mnhs.org), grant director
Disclaimer: Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.