Recently, I moved to a new area with my family. Having a new place meant a new canvas to try to decorate (I am not savvy when it comes to that) and make a home. I decided my living room could showcase my hobby in photography, using some of my photos of the Eiffel Tower that towers over the Las Vegas Strip. I love taking photos of it as it illuminates the street almost as brilliantly as its original namesake in Paris, France. The historian in me took my decorative ideas a step further and decided to make my living room a celebration of the Paris World Exposition of 1896 and 1900. While looking for pictures and accents for the room, I stumbled upon an exhibit that was simply groundbreaking!
The 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle showcased the century’s technological marvels, such as the Electric Palace and the Grand Palais. There, at the exposition, stood out a well-organized display that was led by the intellectual sociologist W.E.B. DuBois. It was not merely a display of pictures and artifacts, but a well-researched and scientifically based message of Black progress and humanity on a global scale. DuBois put this display together because he truly believed that the “ultimate evil was stupidity” when it came to race, and knowledge based on scientific fact was the key to resolving it.
Before the exhibit was created, DuBois was already working on sociological fieldwork, where he collected data in 1896 at the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted quantitative and qualitative research that included data, statistics, photographs, and primary sources, focusing on the lives of Black Americans that had been largely ignored until this time. He worked with co-organizers Daniel Murray and Thomas J. Calloway, along with students at Atlanta University, and completed 63 hand-drawn charts, graphs, and maps with limited funds, time, and support. Despite all of this, he pursued this exhibit because he felt it was very important to have this exhibit presented in Paris on an international platform.
The exhibit aimed to provide a comprehensive, multifaceted view of the status of Black Americans decades after emancipation. This exhibit was to counter negative stereotypes and the false “scientific evidence” that justified discrimination. The 63 charts created by Atlanta University students documented Black achievements, dispelling notions of inferiority. There were over 500 photos that captured the lives, accomplishments, and diversity of Black Americans that were carefully thought out in positioning, dignity, conservative dress, and fashion to combat the dehumanizing images that racism presented in its day. The exhibit also included 200 books and samples of Black owned newspapers that celebrated and preserved literature, culture, and history for Black Americans. The exhibit proved to be a success as W.E.B. DuBois was internationally recognized with a gold medal on April 15, 1900.
After the exposition in Paris, DuBois became a well-respected intellectual, and he continued to write. He served as an editor of the Crisis magazine and was a co-founder of both the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. The expo exhibit in Paris is a powerful reminder of how art, science, and advocacy can challenge injustice and reveal the truth, debunking speculation and bias. The original photos are preserved at the Library of Congress.