Exploring Biography Through Art in the Great Migration

Exploring Biography Through Art in the Great Migration Tessa Sutton I was leaving the South To fling myself into the unknown… I was taking a part of the South To transplant in alien soil, To see if it could grow differently, If it could drink of new and cool rains, Bend in strange winds, Respond to the warmth of other suns, And, perhaps, to bloom. -Poet, Richard Wright

Why do people migrate? ➔ One the whiteboard, please write a sentence about why someone in your family (or you have read about or know) has moved from one part of the world to another or from one part of America to another.

Which ones are political, economic or cultural factors? Place a C for cultural, P for political or E for economic next to someone else’s sentence.

Compelling Questions: What economic, cultural and political factors might cause people to move, voluntarily or involuntarily from place to place? During the Great Migration, what were the reasons people left the South for the North? How did this affect the culture, politics and economics of the North?

The Great Migration From 1910 -1970, 6 million people moved from the South to the North, fleeing segregation and economic oppression.

People moved north on the train lines in 3 general directions.

Economic Reasons: Sound Smart Caste System in the South: PBS video Economic & Cultural Factors

Some Possible Social Causes: Lynching and White Terror Brought Extreme Fear: Lynching was a harsh social control as Whites tried to keep Blacks in their subservient and impoverished position in southern caste society. Many Blacks responded by fleeing to less violent areas. (Wills, 2019)

Racial Violence in the South: From 1889 to 1929, someone was hanged or burned alive every four days for such crimes as “stealing hogs, horse stealing, poisoning mules, jumping labor contracts, suspected of killing cattle, boastful remarks” or “trying to act like a white person. ” 66 were killed after insulting a white person. One was killed for stealing 75 cents. (The Warmth of Other Suns, Wilkerson, 2010, p. 39)

What do you see in this picture? What could it mean? 1920 s

Skilled laborers in the South often became menial workers in the North. They had more education overall than Blacks who already lived there. (Wilkerson, 2010)

What are we looking at here? Do you think this is in the North or South? 1919

Chicago 1919 Riots: Tenements were common and people packed into housing in segregated conditions. Rent was high.

Why are these people in a line? What are they doing? 1948

People exercised the right to vote in the North and mobilized to elect Franklin Roosevelt to a third term. When many first arrived to the industrial cities of the North, that’s the first thing they did. (Wilkerson, 2010; Newman 2004)

Artist Jacob Lawrence (19172000) African American artist who was born in Virginia to parents in the Great Migration. They settled in Harlem in the 1930 s.

Jacob Lawrence What does this image show about how people felt in the South or their conditions?

Jacob Lawrence Title: Another cause was lynching. It was found that where there had been a lynching, the people who were reluctant to leave at first left immediately after this. 1941, tempera on panel, 18 x 12 in.

Jacob Lawrence What do you think this painting’s title could be?

Jacob Lawrence Title: 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. 1941, tempera on panel, 18 x 12 in.

Romare Bearden Three Folk Musicians Collage of various papers with paint and graphite on canvas (1967).

Please choose a person to research in the Great Migration and make a piece of art about their experiences as part of a larger force.

Who could this person be? ● ● ● Mississippi to Michigan in 1935 Was mute for 8 years after he moved His grandfather had not dared stand up to some white children who broke the family’s wagon. He told the little boy that as Black people, they had no say in that world. “There were things they could do that we couldn’t, ” the boy would say of the white children when he was an adult.

James Earl Jones

What types of sources might be useful to you?

In your art, please include: 1. A visual representation (abstract or figurative) of an experience of your person related to the Great Migration, for example, a job in the North or an incident of violence in the South. 1. Show an effect or connection of their lives on the larger culture, politics or economics, especially in the North.

Show & Tell ➔ Present your art and explain the meaning of your visuals. ➔ Talk about why this person left the South and how their experiences in the North showed an effect on culture, politics or economics as part of a larger force.

Quick note on arts integration: ● Art flows well with social studies because it relies primarily on inquiry methods. ● Art uses the methods of each discipline for deeper research and questioning. ● For example, students could interview each other using sociology methods and create graphs, drawings and charts of adolescent culture. (Art Centered Learning Across the Curriculum, Marshall & Donahue, 2014)

Questions on presentation: What are some benefits to using arts integration in your view? How can you use this in social studies? For an inquirybased lesson, is there too much info at the beginning?

References Beardon, R. (1967). Three folk musicians. Retrieved from https: //jjacoblawrence. wordpress. com/romare-bearden/ Lawrence, J. (1941). The migration series. Phillips Collection. Retrieved from https: //lawrencemigration. phillipscollection. org/artist/about-jacoblawrence Lawrence, J. (1941). The migration series. Mo. MA. Retrieved from https: //www. moma. org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/ Marshall, J. , & Donahue, D. (2014) Art-Centered Learning Across the Curriculum. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Migration resources. (2019). New York Public Library. Retrieved from http: //www. inmotionaame. org/gallery/detail. cfm? migration=8&topic=99&id =465408&page=6&type=image Newman, M. (2004). The civil rights movement. Edinburgh, U. K. : Edinburgh University Press.

References (cont. ) The African Americans: Many rivers to cross. (2013). PBS. Retrieved from https: //www. pbs. org/video/african-americans-many-rivers-cross-greatmigration/ The Great Migration. (2017). Sound Smart. Retrieved from https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=7 Tfg. Jn. Xlaxo Wilkerson, I. (2016, September). The long-lasting legacy of the Great Migration. Smithsonian. Retrieved from https: //www. smithsonianmag. com/history/long-lasting-legacy-greatmigration-180960118/ Wilkerson, I. (2010). The warmth of other suns: The epic story of America’s Great Migration. New York, NY: Random House. Wills, M. (2019, February 6). JSTOR Daily. Racial violence as impetus for the Great Migration. Retrieved from https: //daily. jstor. org/violence-as-animpetus-of-the-great-migration/