<I>Ye Shall Inherit the Earth</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1953; printed 1953
name: label: Created by
content: Charles White, American, 1918 - 1979
label: Subject of
content: Rosa Lee Ingram, American, 1902 - 1980
label: Printed by
content: Masses & Mainstream, Inc., American, founded 1948
notes: label: Caption
content: Rosa Lee Ingram was an African American sharecropper and widowed mother of twelve children who lived near Ellaville, Georgia. In 1947, Ingram had a confrontation with her neighbor in which the neighbor struck her in the head with a rifle. Her adolescent sons intervened and the neighbor was killed. Ingram and two of her sons were convicted of murder and sentenced to death, sparking a national social justice movement in support of the family. Arguing self-defense and citing the neighbor's previous sexual harassment of Ingram, the family was defended by the Civil Rights Congress and Sojourners for Truth and Justice. The Ingrams' death sentences were commuted to life sentences in 1948, and after more than a decade of continued protests, Ingram and her sons were released in 1959.
label: Caption
content: Charles White created two artworks referencing the case. The first, “The Ingram Case” (1949) depicts the hands of Ingram and two sons behind a cell door. The second, “Ye Shall Inherit the Earth” (1953) was sent to Ingram on Mother’s Day while she was imprisoned in 1954 to assure her of the continued efforts being made for her and her family.
label: Description
content: A black and white offest lithograph titled “Ye Shall Inherit the Earth” by Charles White. The lithograph depicts Rosa Lee Ingram holding her infant child. Ingram faces forward, holding the unclothed child in her bent proper right arm, her proper left hand on the child's forehead, which is tucked under Ingram's chin. Ingram wears a wide brimmed hat and a short-sleeved garment with fabric draped around both Ingram's and the child's hips. The artist’s signature is near the bottom right in the folding of the cloth, handwritten in black ink: [CHARLES / WHITE ‘53]. At the front, right bottom corner in black text is [IV], marking the number of lithograph in the portfolio. It is the fourth of six lithographs from the portfolio “Charles White: Six Drawings” printed by Masses & Mainstream, Inc.
place: label: Place printed
content: New York, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Schley County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Justice
label: Topic
content: Motherhood
label: Topic
content: Poverty
label: Topic
content: Prisons
label: Topic
content: Race discrimination
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1945-1953
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1953-1961
label: Topic
content: Violence
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Charles White: Six Drawings
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Eric Foner
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.87.4
objectType: label: Type
content: offset lithographs
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © The Charles White Archive
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: lithographic ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 18 1/2 x 13 in. (47 x 33 cm)