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W.E.B. Du Bois Exhibit Lands at a DAMA, Bringing a 125-Year-Old Vision Back to Atlanta

THE ATLANTA VOICE — Discover “W.E.B. Du Bois Revisited: Reimagining Du Bois’ Exhibit of American Negroes” at ADAMA, an exhibit pairing historical photos by Thomas E. Askew with contemporary portraits and data, celebrating Black American life.
The post W.E.B. Du Bois Exhibit Lands at a DAMA, Bringing a 125-Year-Old Vision Back to Atlanta first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

7 months ago

April 26, 2026

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By Noah Washington | The Atlanta Voice

More than a century after W.E.B. Du Bois presented photographs and data charts documenting Black American life at the 1900 Paris Exposition, his vision has found a new home in Atlanta’s West End, at the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta, known as ADAMA.

“W.E.B. Du Bois Revisited: Reimagining Du Bois’ Exhibit of American Negroes” pairs historical photographs taken by Atlanta photographer Thomas E. Askew with contemporary portraits and updated data visualizations. The exhibit, which first debuted at Clark Atlanta University in February, is now on view at ADAMA for approximately two weeks.

The project began as part of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s annual Black History Month series. According to Miller, it was Suggs, a veteran reporter at the AJC, who reached out to her to handle the photography after Donastorg pitched the concept.

“We’re never going to have a story that says Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize or Rosa Parks sat on the back of the bus,” Suggs said. “We’re going to have stories about the talented tenth, about double consciousness, about small things that you probably never heard of or heard glimpses of and didn’t know.”

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The idea came from Mirtha Donastorg, a business reporter at the AJC. Donastorg said she had been reading Du Bois’ work and was struck by how little attention had been paid to its Atlanta-specific content.

“About half of those charts and photographs focused on Atlanta and Georgia, and there had never been an exploration or revisiting of the Atlanta data and charts,” Donastorg said. “I wanted to see what these look like with contemporary data, what it looks like with a contemporary look at Atlanta.”

The work on the project began in December of 2025. All of the historical photographs from Du Bois’ original 1900 Paris exhibit were taken by Askew, a local Black photographer from Atlanta. Most subjects in those images remain unidentified.

“If you look at the cut line, it will say a man, or a boy, a Black boy,” Suggs said. “No names are attached. We don’t know if they’re doctors, we don’t know if they’re lawyers, we don’t know if they’re pharmacists. But we do know they represented a certain aspect of Black beauty, and that’s what we wanted to recreate.”

Miller said choosing contemporary subjects was a blend of intention and instinct. Some pairings, including Clark Atlanta University President George T. French alongside a portrait of Du Bois himself, were planned from the start. Others took shape only after she had shot her subjects and then searched the Library of Congress archives for historical counterparts.

“For a lot of the reference photos, a lot of them didn’t have names, so we just kind of paired up based on how we felt like they connected within contemporary subjects,” Miller said.

She said the goal was to represent the full range of contemporary Atlanta.

“I just kind of wanted to find people that represent contemporary Atlanta, and that’s from doctors to scholars, entrepreneurs, artists,” Miller said. “Kind of finding different people that reflect the people Du Bois wanted to share in the past and what contemporary Atlanta looks like right now.”

A split image showing a historical half-length portrait of an African American woman alongside Rosalynne Duff posing for a portrait in Atlanta in 2026.

The land on which ADAMA sits formally belonged to Clark College, one of two historic institutions, alongside Atlanta University, that merged in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University. It was at Atlanta University where W.E.B. Du Bois spent more than two decades as a faculty member in the history and economics departments, conducting research on Black American life and popularizing the concept of the ‘talented tenth.’

For Pecou, that layered history makes the Pittsburgh neighborhood more than just a convenient address. It is, he says, a kind of sacred ground, a place where Black intellectual life, Black commerce, and Black community have long intersected, and where ADAMA’s presence feels less like a new arrival than a continuation.

“To be able to bring this exhibition here, to be able to tell this story, to expose this community to this history, many folks in this neighborhood may not even realize that history and that connection,” Pecou said. “I felt like it was an important and really powerful message.”

Pecou is also among the contemporary subjects featured in the exhibit, photographed alongside an unnamed historical portrait from Askew’s collection. He said his only regret is that the run is short.

“My only regret is that the exhibition won’t be longer,” Pecou said. “It’s kind of a pop-up thing. We had a space, and we were able to accommodate.”

Miller said she hopes visitors leave with a sense of both distance traveled and connection across time.

“I want them to think about the past and the present,” she said. “We’ve done so much in just these 126 years, despite so much. I want them to kind of look back and reflect on what the people before us did to set us up for now, and to think about themselves in the present.”

Suggs said that the connection between eras revealed itself most powerfully when the team saw the old and new photographs side by side for the first time.

“We never set out to match any of these photographs with people,” he said. “But when Natrice took all the photographs, and we sat down and looked at them, we were like, oh my God. It just kind of shows you how Black people are almost timeless. We all still kind of have these similarities. And I think that this shows the connection that we’re all always going to be connected.”

The post W.E.B. Du Bois Exhibit Lands at a DAMA, Bringing a 125-Year-Old Vision Back to Atlanta first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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61 years after Selma, Houston leaders say the fight for equality continues. The issues that sparked the marches still impact Black Americans today.

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Houston leaders discuss the ongoing struggle for civil rights 61 years after Selma, emphasizing the need for continued action.

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Here is what you need to know about finding unique white elephant gift ideas that everyone wants to steal

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition. The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half […]

Published

1 month ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition.

The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half a second, and suddenly everyone wants the same gift. That is the sweet spot. A great white elephant pick should make people laugh, lean in, and start plotting their next steal before the turn is even over.

Should a White Elephant Gift Be Funny or Useful?

A white elephant gift can be funny or useful, but the strongest choices usually give people a reason to laugh and a reason to keep the item. A practical gift with an odd design, unexpected feature, or playful theme can get a reaction without becoming something the recipient immediately wants to give away.

The right balance depends on the group. Close friends and family members may enjoy a ridiculous gag gift because they already understand one another’s sense of humor.

A workplace exchange, neighborhood party, or mixed-age gathering usually calls for something with broader appeal. In those settings, humor works better when it is built into an item people could still use afterward.

It also helps to think about how quickly the gift will make sense once it is opened. A strangely shaped kitchen tool, oversized mug, quirky desk accessory, or unexpectedly fancy everyday item can create an immediate reaction. Guests understand the joke right away, while the item still has enough practical value to attract a steal.

Pure gag gifts can be harder to pull off. Something that exists only for the punchline may get a big laugh during the reveal and then sit untouched for the rest of the game. If the goal is to bring one of the gifts everyone keeps fighting over, usefulness gives the joke staying power.

Memorable Present Ideas: Creating Inside Joke Gifts

Inside joke gifts can make a white elephant exchange feel much more personal, especially when most of the group shares the same stories. The trick is choosing a reference that people will recognize quickly instead of building the entire joke around something only two guests understand.

You can turn a memorable vacation mishap, office catchphrase, family story, or long-running group joke into the theme of the gift. A personalized comic book can work especially well when it turns familiar people or a ridiculous shared moment into part of the story.

Think carefully about who the joke involves before ordering anything permanent. The gift should make the person feel included in the fun, not singled out for the wrong reason.

Can You Bring Something You Already Own?

Holiday gift exchanges can be a good place to re-gift something you never used, especially if it is unopened and clean.

The following can all work if they still look presentable:

A duplicate kitchen gadget
An untouched game
A decorative item
A sealed gift set
An unopened candle
A new travel accessory

The goal is to give the item a second chance, not use the exchange as an excuse to clear out damaged or unwanted clutter.

Take a close look at the packaging before wrapping it. Faded boxes, missing pieces, visible wear, or anything that looks obviously used can make the gift feel careless.

Wrapping Budget-Friendly Gifts

Wrapping can make gifts more entertaining before anyone even knows what’s inside.

Misdirection works especially well for fun party games. Put a small gift inside a much larger box. Use packaging from an unrelated household item.

Add harmless weight so guests cannot guess what they are holding. The reveal becomes part of the joke without changing the gift itself.

You can also lean into the theme of the exchange. Bright paper, oversized bows, reusable bags, or deliberately over-the-top wrapping can make an ordinary item feel more memorable. If the gift itself is already funny, simple wrapping may work better so the surprise stays hidden until the last second.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Picking Last an Advantage in White Elephant?

Picking last can be an advantage because you get to see almost every gift before making your move. Instead of choosing blindly from the remaining wrapped presents, you can steal something that has already caught your attention if the rules still allow it.

That advantage depends on the house rules. Some games limit how many times a gift can be stolen.

Others lock an item once it reaches a certain number of steals. If the most popular gifts are already unavailable, the final player may have fewer strong options than expected.

The first player can also get another turn at the end in some versions of the game. That rule can balance things out, since the person who started with the least information may get one final chance to steal.

How Do You Plan White Elephant for a Large Group?

For a large white elephant exchange, set a firm spending limit and establish the stealing rules in advance.

Create a clear turn order before the game begins. Drawing numbers as guests arrive can save time once everyone is ready to start.

Keep the number of steals per gift limited so the game does not drag on. It also helps to have one person track which creative holiday presents have been stolen and when they are locked, especially if dozens of people are participating.

Can You Play White Elephant Virtually?

A virtual white elephant exchange can work over a video call, with one person keeping track of the turn order and each steal. Guests can either mail physical gifts ahead of time or use digital gifts that can be delivered once the game ends.

Set the spending limit and stealing rules before everyone joins. It also helps to decide how gifts will be revealed and who is responsible for sending each one afterward so the exchange does not become confusing.