Images of African American Journeys of Migration

1. Images of African American Journeys of Migration Fath Davis Ruffins Curator, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History Migrations: the American Experience in Art Teacher Workshop--Art Institute of Chicago 30 July 2012

2. Depictions/Interpretations of African Americans • People of African descent have often been depicted by “others” • Many ( but not all) of these depictions historically have been stereotypical • Therefore, a key question to ask about any image or representation of / or any reference to African Americans is “who doing the making or creating? And “For what purpose?”

3. First, respond to the work! • As a visual/spatial/emotional experience • What immediate references, emotions, thoughts or other responses do you feel? • What is the artist trying perhaps to communicate— feelings, associations (visual or conceptual), thoughts, etc. • What do you feel about this piece– on a spectrum ( like/dislike; critical response)

4. What questions might historians ask about art? • About the artwork itself • About the artist, situating him/her within the artistic movements, social milieu, known biography, history of the evolution of the work, etc. • About the known facts of the historical event/period depicted? • About the interpretation that the artist is making (if at all) • About contrasting interpretations that are similar (stylistically) or treat the same subject

5. United States is a “settler society” The “peopling” of the Americas included: • Immigration (voluntary international movement) • Importation ( forced international movement Such as slavery and indentured servitude) • Incorporation (borders move; people do not) • All of which produces displacement

6. Four major migrations of people of African descent in USA • Forced importation --the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and (small) voluntary immigration to Americas (1500-1870) • Forced migration of enslaved people from coastal regions to interior ( Domestic Slave Trade) 1820s-1860s; Self-emancipation on “Underground Railroad” • “The Great Migration”—voluntary migration from rural south to urban north and west, 1900s-1960s • Voluntary immigration of people from Africa and Caribbean, especially since 1965

7. Auguste Francois Biard Scenes on the Coast of Africa 1840

9. Unknown artist, circa 1790-1800

10. Lewis Miller Sketchbook of Landscapes in the State of Virginia 1853-1867

11. William A. Walker for Currier and Ives Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi-The Harvest 1884

12. Runaway Ad—printers mark typically used in newspapers in early 1800s

13. Eastman Johnson A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves 1862

14. Charles T. Webber The Underground Railroad 1893

15. Jacob Lawrence Harriet Tubman Series 1967

16. Jacob Lawrence The Great Migration Series 1940-1941

17. Jacob Lawrence Migration Series 1940-1941

18. Jacob Lawrence “The numbers get bigger and bigger: Migration Series 1940-1941

21. Romare Bearden The Street 1975

22. Romare Bearden Tomarrow I may be Far Away--1967

24. Martin Puryear (Born 1941) Ladder for Booker T. Washington (1996)

25. Lyrics to the spiritual: We are climbing Jacob’s ladder • We are climbing Jacob’s ladder • Every rung goes higher, higher • Sinner do you love my Jesus? • If you love him, why not serve him? • Refrain: Soldier of the Cross