Lawrence, Jacob (1917–2000)
One of America’s most important artists and the
most influential of African-American painters.
Lawrence was an emerging talent when the
Harlem Renaissance began, and he came of age
professionally during that flowering of black arts,
literature, and culture.
Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jer-
sey, in September 1917, the son of Jacob Lawrence,
a coal miner and railroad employee, and Rosalie
Armstead Lawrence, a domestic. Following his par-
ents’ separation in the mid-1920s, he and his two
siblings relocated to HARLEM to live with his
mother. Like his future friend and colleague
LANGSTONHUGHES, who benefited from the com-
munity arts center in his Cleveland community,
Lawrence began to develop his artistic talents in
the Utopia Settlement House in Harlem. In 1941
he married Gwendolyn Knight, also a sculptor and
artist, from Barbados, West Indies, whom he had
met in the artists’ community of New York City.
He worked closely with some of the most
prominent and talented figures of the Renaissance
period. In 1931 he began art studies at the Utopia
House in New York City with Charles Alston.
From 1934 through 1937, he continued his train-
ing at the Harlem Art Workshop, which met in the
135th Street Branch of the NEWYORKPUBLICLI-
BRARY. In 1937 he earned a full scholarship to the
American Artists School in New York City. His im-
mersion in New York City culture soon brought
him into contact with leading scholars and artists
such as ROMARE BEARDEN,AARONDOUGLAS,
RALPHELLISON, Langston Hughes, ALAINLOCKE,
AUGUSTA SAVAGE,ARTHUR SCHOMBURG, and
RICHARDWRIGHT. In 1938 he was hired by the
Works Progress Administration on the recommen-
dation of sculptor Augusta Savage.
His career began to blossom in the waning
years of the Renaissance. He completed the first of
his unique, multipart narratives in 1937. This se-
ries on Toussaint Louverture was followed in 1938
by a riveting series of 32 paintings devoted to the
life and character of Frederick Douglass. In 1939
Lawrence completed another installation of more
than 30 paintings on Harriet Tubman.
Lawrence won a JULIUSROSENWALDFELLOW-
SHIPin 1940 and used the award’s funds to secure
a studio space. In that space, which he shared with
CLAUDEMCKAY,WILLIAMATTAWAY, and Romare
Bearden, Lawrence created one of his most cele-
brated series, paintings that formed The Migration
of the American Negro collection. The work de-
buted on December 7, 1941, in Manhattan’s elite
Downtown Gallery.
Lawrence continued to thrive in the decades
following the Harlem Renaissance. He was
awarded three JULIUSROSENWALDFELLOWSHIPS,
as well as the prestigious GUGGENHEIMFELLOW-
SHIPin 1946, the SPINGARNMEDALgiven by the
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE-
MENT OFCOLOREDPEOPLEin 1970, and the Na-
tional Medal of Arts in 1990. Lawrence taught at a
number of colleges, including the New School for
Social Research, the University of Washington at
Seattle, and Brandeis University.
He died of lung cancer in Seattle, Washing-
ton, in June 2000.Bibliography
Nesbett, Peter T., and Michelle DuBois, eds. Over the
Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence. Seattle,
Wash.: University of Washington Press in associa-
tion with Jacob Lawrence Catalogue, 2000.
Wheat, Ellen Harkins. Jacob Lawrence: American Painter.
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986.Lee, George Washington(1894–1976)
An Indianola, Mississippi, native who began pub-
lishing fiction and poetry after establishing himself
as a successful insurance executive. The son of
George and Hattie Stingfeller Lee, the daughter of
house servants, he went on to study at Alcorn
Agricultural and Mechanical College. He financed
his college studies by working during the summers
as a bellhop in elite Memphis hotels.
Following his graduation in 1918, Lee was ac-
cepted into the Army’s Officer Candidate School.
He went on to serve with the 368th Negro Divi-
sion in FRANCEand earned the French Croix de
Guerre for bravery in battle. He was discharged at
the rank of first lieutenant. Lee later received the
honorary title of colonel.
Upon his return to America, Lee began work-
ing as an insurance salesman in Memphis. After jobs
at the Mississippi Life Insurance and the Atlanta
Life Insurance companies, he became director of the308 Lawrence, Jacob