The 1920s... The Migrants Arrive and Cast Their Ballots
Artist/Culture
Jacob Lawrence
(American, 1917–2000)
Date1974
Mediumcolor screenprint
Dimensions81.3 x 61.9 cm (32 x 24 3/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineGift of Lorillard, Division of Loews Theatres, Inc.
Object number1976.145
Label TextPrompted by the hope for social and political enfranchisement, hundreds of thousands of African Americans fled the rural South in the early 1900s to pursue improved social conditions in the North. Jacob Lawrence’s screen print displays an episode in his impassioned reflection on this great demographic shift, which he began as early as 1940 with his series of canvases titled The Migration of the Negro. In this scene, the presence of African American women is noteworthy: the Nineteenth Amendment had just granted voting rights to American women in 1920. The generational consequence of voting is highlighted through the depiction of elderly voters and adults with infants. Lawrence used bold primary colors contrasted with black and brown to heighten the energy of this affecting scene.ProvenanceLorillard, Division of Loews Theatres, Inc., New York, N. Y.On View
Not on view
