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)