Norman Rockwell in the age of the Civil Rights Movement

On July 14, 1964, "The New York Times" ran a story titled, “A 2nd Body is Found in the Mississippi.” Norman Rockwell tore this page from his newspaper and saved it. The story of a racial killing in southwest Mississippi and the arson of two Negro churches mentioned another unsolved case, that of three civil rights workers missing since June 21st. The brief reference caught Rockwell’s attention and laid the foundation for one of his most stirring works. A few months earlier, "Look" ran Rockwell’s powerful message on school desegregation, "The Problem We All Live With." Rockwell received many letters criticizing his choice of subject, but irate opinions didn’t silence him.  In March 1965, Rockwell began "Murder in Mississippi," illustrating the June 21st slaying of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. 

Humor and pathos—traits that made Rockwell’s "Post" covers successful—were not needed to describe life in 1960s America. Textures and colors used to weave his lighthearted yarns were replaced by a pared-down, reportorial style appropriate for magazine editorials.  "Blood Brothers," showing the stark realism of two dead men their blood mingling, may have been too controversial for "Look." The commission went unpublished.

 

Among the powerful paintings Rockwell produced in the 1960s, "The Problem We All Live With" stands as one of the most aggressively gentle assertions on moral decency, "Murder in Mississippi" as his most courageous, and "New Kids in the Neighborhood" was his most optimistic. As Rockwell observers, we evolve into a more compassionate culture, not only tolerating the artist’s departure from gently depicting our foibles but embracing his honest confrontations of some of the hard realities of our society. Who but someone who spent sixty-four years winning our hearts by reminding us of who we are could better advise us on treating others as we would like to be treated.

Illustration for “Look,” June 29, 1965. In the beginning of 1965, Rockwell began work on an illustration for "Look" about the June 21, 1964 murders of three young civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Michael Schwerner and his chief aide, James Chaney, were in Philadelphia to assist with training summer volunteers, one of whom was Andrew Goodman. Schwerner had been targeted by the Klan for his organization of a black boycott of white-owned businesses and for his attempts to register blacks in Meriden. Hearing of a Klan attack against blacks and of arson at Mount Zion Church, the three men drove to the site. On their return to the Meriden office of Congress On Racial Equality (CORE), they were taken into custody by Deputy Sheriff Price, by some accounts for speeding and by others for supposedly setting the fire. After releasing them later that night, Price tailed them. Once outside of town, Klansmen intercepted them and hustled them into Price's car. They were driven to a remote location and shot point blank. Their bodies were then taken to a farm of one of the Klansmen, dumped into a dam site, and covered by tons of dirt pushed over them by tractor. Rockwell conceived "Murder in Mississippi" as a horizontal composition to run across two pages. The young men would be pictured on the left page and Philadelphia Deputy Price and the posse of Klansmen wielding sticks (we later learned all were armed with rifles and shotguns) on the right. His next idea was to do two separate, vertical pictures-the first showing the civil rights workers and the second showing the Mount Zion Church. Rockwell hired local architect Tom Arienti to draft a church steeple, but later decided against including the church.

Illustration for “Look,” May 16, 1967.  At 73, Rockwell had lost the energy to develop his work in the painstaking way of the previous half-century. Now he would often omit the intermediary step of preparing a detailed charcoal drawing before proceeding to paint in oil. In addition, his color perception was diminishing due to cataracts. Still, his work continued to reach an appreciative audience. In his illustration of suburban integration in Chicago’s Park Forest community, Rockwell was secure in expressing his philosophy of tolerance. We can see the children will soon be playing with each other, but the face peering from behind a window curtain makes us wonder how the adults will fare.Painting for "Look" story illustration “Negro in the Suburbs” by Jack Star, May 16, 1967Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust