Jacob+Lawrence


 * By Linah, grade 6**

A woman named Rose and a man named Jacob had a son name Jacob Lawrence Jr, in 1917. Jacob was also known as Jake. He was born around the Great Migration. His parents didn’t have enough money to rise hem so they had to move to, Atlantic City, Easton, Pennsylvania then Philadelphia. Jacob was growing up to be an artist; a very famous artist.

When Jacob was seven years old his father left so Jake’s mother had to raise the family. Jacob was talking care of his sister and brother while his mother was working. Times got harder and Jacob’s mother couldn’t get anymore money so she had to move to Harlem. While she was looking for a job. Jack, his sister and brother had to separate from each other. After three years their their mother had enough money to move her children to New York.

To Jacob, Harlem seemed like another planet. His mother lived in a apartment with other families. At night houses were loud with parties. If there was an piano people would play it. Sometimes Fats Waller would play.

When Jacob went to Utopia Children’s house he was happy to start painting. Every day after school he would go there. How Jack would paint is by organizing, color by number. By the time Jacob was sixteen he wanted to paint about black history, so he painted Toussaint L’Ouverture, a black slave revolutionary leader in Haiti.

Jacob’s mother said” painting doesn’t give our family some food.” So Jacob quit school and started delivering newspapers. He took free art classes. Then his mother told him to go back to school. Augusta Savage tried to get him into the government program but he was to young. Jacob thought his mother was right so he gave up on painting.

When it was Jacob’s birthday (September 7) he started to paint Toussaint L’Ouverture’s life. Edith Halpet saw Jacob paint and said “this needs to be in the gallery”; Edith Halpet’s Downtown Gallery. Most of Jacob’s 250 painting were in her gallery. Time magazine said Jacob Lawrence was the nations number one black artist. Jacob said “I speak with picture not with words.”

In 1971 he became a professor. He had to move to different places. He taught at University of Washington in Seattle. Every thing in Seattle reminded him of New York. He liked to watch the construction, so he painted men building. (The Builders). He was allowed to paint own way. Jacob painted the Olympics; he also drew Aesop’s Fables. Jacob created one with humans and one with animals.

In 1977 Jacob was one of the five famous artist invited to a ceremony for President Jimmy Carter. An art school wanted to send a painting to the Vatican Museum in Italy. It was Jacob’s painting The Builders.

The world famous painter Jacob died on June 9th, 2000, leaving his art around in Harlem, in Seattle, the United States and the world. His painting has a story for everyone.