Jacob Lawrence papers [microfilm], 1937-1992

Collection Information

Size: 4 Microfilm reels

Summary: This microfilm collection documents the artistic and teaching career of African American painter Jacob Lawrence.

Included are biographical materials and awards; correspondence; writings and speeches by Lawrence, 1947-1962, and writings about Lawrence; photographs; scattered financial material, 1941-1957; and printed materials.

Correspondence dates from 1937-1971. Among the correspondents are: Ralph Abernathy, Charles Alston, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Claude Clark, Hy Cohen, Mildred Cummings, Terry Dintenfass, Inc., David Driskell, Fritz Eichenberg, Philip Evergood, Creighton Gilbert, Edith Gregor Halpert (Downtown Gallery), Langston Hughes, Raymond Patterson, Pratt Institute, Margaret Rigg, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Moses and Raphael Soyer, and the United States Committee for the First World Festival of Negro Arts, Inc. Photographs include personal photographs, 1939-1966, and photographs of art work, 1941-1949. Printed material consists of reproductions of work, brochures and course catalogs, programs and calendars, exhibition announcements and catalogs, posters, articles, and clippings.

Biographical/Historical Note

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was an African American painter and educator in New York, New York and Seattle, Washington. Lawrence worked for the WPA's Federal Art Project and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), the University of Washington, and others. One of his most well-known works of art is the The Migration of the Negro (now known as The Migration Series ), a 60-panel epic Lawrence created when he received a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940.

Provenance

Lent for microfilming by Syracuse University Library, Special Collections, 1992. Among the three reels are papers that Lawrence lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1966 which he subsequently donated to Syracuse.

Language Note

English .

Location of Originals

• Originals in Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.