W.E.B. Du Bois Black Reconstruction in America (1935): Archival Framing & Reconstruction as Historical Method

This visual data portrait presents an analytical synthesis of W. E. B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America (1935), with a focus on Chapter 17, “The Propaganda of History,” through the lens of African American Community Archives Theory (AACAT). The image frames Reconstruction as both a historical and archival process, emphasizing distortion, recovery, and narrative reclamation as central to understanding Black historical experience. Grounded in AACAT, this work positions archives as sites of power, intervention, and community authority. It highlights the ongoing nature of Reconstruction as an archival task, requiring critical analysis, community stewardship, and truth-telling practices rooted in Black lived experience. This visual is designed for use in digital humanities, archival studies, and African American history pedagogy.