Three African American girls stand in front of a wide chalkboard with their backs towards the viewer. With arms stretched high above them, each girl writes a different number: (from left to right) “2,” “3,” and “4.” Their bright colored dresses suggest that their standard of life and education is much better than that of the South; that they enjoy learning in school, attending an accredited school, and come from families that can afford to dress them well. LAwrence uses this panel to contrast panel no. 24 in his Migration series, where underage child labor in the South is portrayed. Few black children in the South had access to decent education facilities, let alone education itself. Rather than spend their days in the cotton fields under the sun, children in the North were subjected to more than satisfactory educational resources.

SKU: 65195
Creator: Jacob Lawrence
Date: 1940-41
Original Medium: Casein tempera on hardboard
Original Size: 12 x 18 in
Location: Museum of Modern Art, NY
© 2016 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York