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 1916-1919, considered the first wave of the migration.
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 on this page, all in the order the author originally placed them. Each slideshow opens in a new window. Click on any of the images above or on the links below each image.
The First Wave of the Great Migration (1916-1919) - part IV
"Many Northern workers were angry because they had to compete with the migrants for housing and jobs. There were riots." Jacob Lawrence
"Female workers were among the last to leave."
"Southern landowners, stripped of cheap labor, tried to stop the migration by jailing the labor agents and the migrants."
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