Artworks · Jacob Lawrence

The Opener from the series The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture

1997 · Screenprint

sheet: 22 1/4 × 32 1/8" (56.5 × 81.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The March from the series The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture

1995 · Screenprint

composition: 18 1/16 × 27 15/16" (45.8 × 70.9 cm); sheet: 22 1/8 x 32" (56.2 x 81.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

To Preserve Their Freedom from the series The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture

1988 · Screenprint

composition: 18 1/2 × 28 11/16" (47 × 72.8 cm); sheet: 22 x 32" (55.9 x 81.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Confrontation at the Bridge

1975 · Color screenprint on white wove card

49.4 × 65.8 cm (19 1/2 × 25 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Harlem Street Scene

1975 · Color screenprint on cream wove paper

Image: 62.4 × 47.3 cm (24 5/8 × 18 5/8 in.); Sheet: 77.5 × 57.3 cm (30 9/16 × 22 9/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

The Builders

1974 · Screenprint in black, red, gray, blue, ochre, and yellow on cream wove paper

Image: 76 × 56 cm (29 15/16 × 22 1/16 in.); Sheet: 86.5 × 65.5 cm (34 1/16 × 25 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

The 1920's ... The Migrants Arrive and Cast Their Ballots from Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence

1974 · Screenprint from a portfolio of six lithographs, four screenprints (one with collage additions), and two lithograph and screenprints

composition: 32 × 24 3/8" (81.3 × 61.9 cm); sheet: 34 3/8 × 25 7/8" (87.3 × 65.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Street Shadows

1959 · Egg tempera on board

24 x 29 7/8" (61 x 75.9 cm).

Museum of Modern Art

Sedation

1950 · Casein tempera on paper

30 7/8 x 22 3/4" (78.6 x 58 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Graduation

1948 · Brush and black ink, over graphite, on cream wove paper

72 × 49.8 cm (28 3/8 × 19 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

The Wedding

1948 · Egg tempera on hardboard

50.8 × 61 cm (20 × 24 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

This Is a Family Living in Harlem

1943 · Gouache, ink, and pencil on paper

22 5/8 x 15 5/8" (57.4 x 39.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Virginia Interior

1942 · Gouache on ivory wove paper

56 × 58.4 cm (22 1/16 × 23 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Although the Negro was used to lynching, he found this an opportune time for him to leave where one had occurred

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The labor agent who had been sent South by Northern industry was a very familiar person in the Negro counties

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Another of the social causes of the migrants' leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the streets late at night. They were arrested on the slightest provocation

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Child labor and a lack of education was one of the other reasons for people wishing to leave their homes

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

And people all over the South began to discuss this great movement

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

In many of the communities the Negro press was read continually because of its attitude and its encouragement of the movement

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The trains were packed continually with migrants

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The migrants arrived in great numbers

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Living conditions were better in the North

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The railroad stations in the South were crowded with people leaving for the North

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The World War had caused a great shortage in Northern industry and also citizens of foreign countries were returning home

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Negro press was also influential in urging the people to leave the South

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Industries attempted to board their labor in quarters that were oftentimes very unhealthy. Labor camps were numerous

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

One of the largest race riots occurred in East St. Louis

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Race riots were very numerous all over the North because of the antagonism that was caused between the Negro and white workers. Many of these riots occurred because the Negro was used as a strike breaker in many of the Northern industries

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

They did not always leave because they were promised work in the North. Many of them left because of Southern conditions, one of them being great floods that ruined the crops, and therefore they were unable to make a living where they were

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Negro was the largest source of labor to be found after all others had been exhausted

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

They also made it very difficult for migrants leaving the South. They often went to railroad stations and arrested the Negroes wholesale, which in turn made them miss their train

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The railroad stations were at times so over-packed with people leaving that special guards had to be called in to keep order

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The migration gained in momentum

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Housing for the Negroes was a very difficult problem

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

They arrived in great numbers into Chicago, the gateway of the West

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

They also worked in large numbers on the railroad

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

In every home people who had not gone North met and tried to decide if they should go North or not

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

And the migrants kept coming

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Among one of the last groups to leave the South was the Negro professional who was forced to follow his clientele to make a living

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

One of the main forms of social and recreational activities in which the migrants indulged occurred in the church

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

In the North the Negro had better educational facilities

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

They were very poor

1940 · Casein tempera on hardboard

12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Free Clinic

1937 · Gouache on tan wove paper, laid down on ivory cardboard

76.7 × 81.8 cm (30 1/4 × 32 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago