"The Ordeal of Alice"

This painting was done in 1963 by Jacob Lawrence, a U.S. painter from New Jersey. It is entitled "The Ordeal of Alice" and it tells the story of an Afican American girl during a modern American civil rights movement: school desegregation. The central figure, Alice, is on her way to an all-white school while being surrounded by several ghoulish, evil-looking figures who are meant to represent the several people, children and adults included, who opposed school desegregation. Alice is a wonderful representation of the couragous children who sought to attend all-white schools during the 1950's, '60s and '70s. This painting is often compared with the famous photograph of Elizabeth Eckford, which was taken as she tried to enter Little Rock's (formerly) all-white Central High School on September 4, 1957.