Sandra K. Friday
Here it might be worthwhile to look at how an artist captures a life or historical event in a
series
of paintings. Jacob Lawrence in a series of eighteen paintings recreated the life and courage of Harriet Tubman, who led over three hundred slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Lawrence wrote her story in verse to accompany her story in paintings, making a stunning children’s picture book,
Harriet and the Promised Land.
Ironically, while she remained invisible historically, until she became celebrated in paintings such as these of Lawrence, and in the six-by-eight foot mural titled
Harriet Tubman
painted by Aaron Douglas in 1931, and in children’s storybooks, it was her
invisibility
during her lifetime that was essential to her very survival. It is also possible to choose
one
of the series of paintings by Lawrence and explore it in depth. The rubric for this will be like the rubric in my lesson plans in this unit, Lesson # 2 and 3: art rendering.