Glory Train
1939
Color take
10” x 13” plate
The Copperville Church is shown in its classic flat Eastern Shore landscape with the congregation approaching. A trumpeting angel leads a train that is flying up toward the sky. This is the first version of several attempts to portray the song, Glory Train (also known as This Train is Bound for Glory). The diagonal swirl suggests the influence of William Blake and is typical of spiritual work. This is one of five surviving color takes–the proof sheets to confirm color. This image was so popular that it was published the following year in Alain Locke’s seminal work, The Negro in Art.