<I>In Harriet Tubman I helped hundreds to freedom</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1946-1947; printed 1989
name: label: Created by
content: Elizabeth Catlett, Mexican and American, 1915 - 2012
label: Subject of
content: Harriet Tubman, American, 1822 - 1913
notes: label: Caption
content: I wanted to show the history and strength of all kinds of Black women. Working women, country women, great women in the history of the United States. — Elizabeth Catlett
label: Caption
content: Elizabeth Catlett was a versatile sculptor and printmaker committed to making art that promoted women, family, community, and equality. In 1946, she received a Julius Rosenwald Foundation Grant to travel and study in Mexico City. There, she worked with the Taller de Gráphica Popular (People’s Graphic Arts Workshop), a printmaking collective primarily dedicated to the production of sociopolitical art. During her stay, she completed The Negro Woman. This narrative series of prints embodies a first-person perspective of Black women, imparting a sense of intimacy and resilience as the viewer navigates a variety of images relating to resilience, heroism, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice.
label: Description
content: This black and white linocut depicts Harriet Tubman directing a group of individuals. She stands with her back to the viewer, looking over her right shoulder and down her right arm, which she points in a straight line to her right. She wears a light colored long dress with a striped hem and dark shoes. Her sleeves are rolled up past the elbows. She has a loose cap on her head and a satchel slung over her left shoulder. In the background is a group of individuals consisting of several men and a woman carrying a baby. The woman wears a long loose skirt and loose shirt. She has a loose cap or cloth on her head and carries a baby against her left shoulder. Next to the woman is a man in a loose shirt and pants. He carries a bulging sack over his right shoulder. Both the woman and the man are barefoot. Behind them are four men, two of them wearing hats. They are shown walking towards the right hand margin, in the direction of Harriet Tubman's pointing finger. There is a handwritten title below the image in pencil. It is signed by the artist on the bottom right. The back is blank.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: Resistance
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: The Black Woman (formerly the Negro Woman)
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Winifred Hervey
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.21.7
objectType: label: Type
content: linocuts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © 2020 Catlett Mora Family Trust/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink and graphite on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image with title): 9 3/4 × 7 1/16 in. (24.8 × 18 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 9 1/16 × 7 1/16 in. (23 × 18 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (sheet): 15 1/8 × 11 1/4 in. (38.4 × 28.6 cm)