"The Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America"—A Masterpiece by Pioneering Black Artist Charles White—Showing Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Crispus Attucks, et al.

Charles White reveals a necessary corrective to what Americans were taught for two centuries—the Washington Crossing the Delaware view of history. Without denigrating prior heroes, White reminds us of less “traditional” heroes who must be represented in a more complete and accurate telling of American history.

This full-color study provides White’s vision for his mural at Hampton University. It features images of prominent African American men and women from the colonial era to the twentieth century. In 1941, White received $2,000 from the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship for a project that included its creation. He painted the 18-by-12-foot mural on a plaster wall with egg tempera over three months in 1943. Three students assisted by serving as models, mixing paints, and cracking eggs for the tempera. The mural was painted on the second floor of Clarke Hall in Wainwright Auditorium on the back wall of the stage.

★ CHARLES WHITE. Study for his mural at Hampton University, The Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America. Tempera and graphite on illustration board, signed and dated “Charles White ’43” (lower right); 1943. #27128.99