ART WORK OF THE GREAT
MIGRATION
JACOB LAWRENCE
Through a series of paintings, in The Great
Migration, Jacob Lawrence illustrates the mass
exodus of African-Americans who moved to the
North in search for a better life. Lawrence's parents
were among those who migrated between 19161919, considered the first wave of the migration.
The First Wave of the Great
Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"Around the time of WWI,
many African-Americans from
the South left home and
traveled to cities in the North in
search of a better life.“
Jacob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great
Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"For African-Americans the South was
barren in many ways.
There was no justice for them in courts,
and their lives were often in danger.
Jacob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great
Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"Nature had ravaged the South. Floods
ruined farms. The boll weevil destroyed
cotton crops.“
Jacob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great Migration
(1916-1919) - part I
"The war had doubled the cost of food, making
life even harder for the poor.“
Jacob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great Migration (19161919)
"Northern industries offered Southern blacks jobs
as workers and lent them money, to be repaid
later, for their railroad tickets. The Northbound
trains were packed with recruits.“
Jacob Lawrence
The First Wave of the Great Migration (1916-1919) - part I
"Railroad stations were so crowed with migrants that guards were called in to keep
order."
Jacob Lawrence
THE GREAT MIGRATION
A STORY IN PAINTINGS BY JACOB LAWRENCE
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Lawrence himself was not a direct witness to the migration, but his
artistic talent prompted his teachers and friends to persuade him to
express those events in paintings. Subsequently, after extensive
research, Lawrence gathered enough information about the migration
to compile a story in paintings about the subject. The paintings are
now part of The Phillips Collection, housed in The Museum of
Modern Art, New York.
The pictures are divided in four slideshows, all in the order the author
originally placed them and are available for viewing:
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/odonnell/w1010/edit/migration/mi
gration.html