Data Visualization by W.E.B. DuBois circa 1900
Today in my search for data visualization inspiration (hey that rhymes!) I found out that W. E. B. Du Bois made infographics way back in 1900. The data is captured by hand - and is crude by today's standards - but incredibly neat and legible considering. Du Bois was given a grant by congress to put these graphics together with the help of his students at Atlanta University. He received the grant just 4 months before the Paris Exhibition (world's fair), where he would earn a gold medal for the work. The graphics still hold up and are eye opening to say the least. Also keep in mind, these were created just 37 years after the end of slavery. These charts are compiled in the book W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America, which I am adding to my reading list right away. More info here with more links at the bottom of the page as well: https://medium.com/nightingale/data-journalism-in-the-study-of-w-e-b-du-bois-the-negro-problem-part-2-of-4-e5ea9b976adc
One Man’s Data…
Welcome to Gothic, Colorado—one of the coldest places in the United States. This ghost town has been abandoned since the 1920s, but there is at least one person who still calls it home. For more than 40 years, current resident billy barr has lived in a small cabin, recording data about the snowpack to pass the time. In this short film, Morgan Heim of Day’s Edge Productions profiles the legendary local who inadvertently provided scientists with a treasure trove of climate change data. Winner of the Film4Climate competition organized by the Connect4Climate Program of the World Bank (film4climate.net).
I’ve been doing a lot of research on interactive infographic design since December 2020. I’d like to create some useful infographics and also learn a better way of doing so. I think the key to keeping infographics engaging, now and in the future, is to make them interactive. More on that topic to come later, but in the meantime, YouTube suggested this video about a man who has lived alone in Gothic, Co for forty years. Somewhere along the way, he began taking notes on his observances of nature and snow in particular. Now scientists are using his data for, well, science! Maybe one day one of my infographics will be the subject of a National Geographic short film. Inspiration is around every corner!