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The trains were packed continually with migrants

The trains were packed continually with migrants

Jacob Lawrence
American, 1917–2000
1940-41
A casein tempera on hardboard by Jacob Lawrence that shows a packed train car of Black migrants, meant to document and dramatize the continual movement of people during the Great Migration.
Seen from above, flattened rows of sleeping figures form a rhythmic pattern of dark heads and colored blankets flanking a worn central aisle, conveying claustrophobia, weariness, and quiet motion in a single glance.
One panel of Lawrence’s Migration Series, it helped make African American social history visible within a modernist pictorial language—using simplified shapes, bold color, and narrative sequence to turn documentary subject matter into art.
Medium
Casein tempera on hardboard
Dimensions
18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
Classification
Credit
Gift of Mrs. David M. Levy
Accession
28.1942.3
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
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And the migrants kept coming 92%

And the migrants kept coming

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

And the migrants kept coming 92% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) American 28.1942.30
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 92%

They also made it very difficult for migrants leaving the...

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

They also made it very difficult for migrants leaving the... 92% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm) American 28.1942.21
The migrants arrived in great numbers 91%

The migrants arrived in great numbers

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

The migrants arrived in great numbers 91% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) American 28.1942.20
The railroad stations were at times so over-packed with people leaving that special guards had to be called in to keep order 89%

The railroad stations were at times so over-packed with p...

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

The railroad stations were at times so over-packed with p... 89% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) American 28.1942.6
The railroad stations in the South were crowded with people leaving for the North 89%

The railroad stations in the South were crowded with peop...

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

The railroad stations in the South were crowded with peop... 89% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) American 28.1942.16
The migration gained in momentum 88%

The migration gained in momentum

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

The migration gained in momentum 88% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm) American 28.1942.9
And people all over the South began to discuss this great movement 85%

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

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

And people all over the South began to discuss this great... 85% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 18 x 12" (45.7 x 30.5 cm) American 28.1942.13
They also worked in large numbers on the railroad 84%

They also worked in large numbers on the railroad

Jacob Lawrence

1940-41

They also worked in large numbers on the railroad 84% Jacob Lawrence 1940-41 Casein tempera on hardboard Painting Painting & Sculpture 12 x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) American 28.1942.19