Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917, although he spent most of his youth in Pennsylvania. When he had turned thirteen, he moved with his mother to Harlem, New York and while she was in search of work, he enrolled him into the Utopia Children’s House for after school. Some of his work at a young age caught the eye of the artist Charles Alston, so from the years of 1932 to 1939, Lawrence worked and studied with Henry and Alston. Although having to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps for a short stint, he received an art scholarship and was able to return to art in 1939. He soon became an artist at the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration. He would paint about the life he experienced in Harlem, and inevitably would express his emotions on the many hardships that he and others endured during their lives in the rough city. Lawrence was interested in history, especially African American history, and he would continue to paint several series on the subject. Once he finally won a Rosewood Fund Fellowship, he was able to expand his materials range. With his colleagues-writers Claude McKay and William Attaway and painter Romare Bearden, he was able to open up a studio. At this time in his life, he met a young artist Gwen Knight, and they were married before WWII. He opened his first one man show on December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day. It was an instant success. All of his works were bought by two museums and several were reproduced for Fortune magazine. While Jacob Lawrence was a narrative painter, he didn’t confine himself to only one picture per story. In his series “The Migration of the Negro”, he had a total of 60 paintings. He is still considered one of the true American historical painters. His emphasis on shape, colors, and lines, made it possible for him to express a variety of subjects, from the lighthearted to the very poverty he experienced as a child. Throughout his career, he received many illustrious rewards, such as an election to the prestigious Academy of Art and Letters and he earned over two dozen honorary degrees from universities. Lawrence passed away on June 9th, 2000 in his home in Seattle, Washington.
http://www.seattlepi.com/visualart/jlaw10.shtml
http://www.usa-hero.com/lawrence_jacob.html
http://www.dropbears.com/a/art/biography/Jacob_Lawrence.html
Jacob Lawrence 
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brittany