And the Migrants Kept Coming

A rare eight-page reprint of Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration of the Negro (Series) for Fortune Magazine, November 1941. Lawrence, educated at the Harlem Community Art Center and the American Artists School in New York, worked on WPA mural projects in the city. In 1940 he created this series of colorful paintings, illustrating the migration of African-Americans from the south to northern industrial centers such as New York, Philadelphia, and Detroit.  The Fortune article was the first time a mainstream magazine published the work of an African-American artist. Lawrence was only 24 years old at the time, and the publicity marked a turning point in his career.