Merry-Go-Round
1934
Black-and-white lithograph
10 3/8” x 14 1/8” plate
This print illustrates a mother and children enjoying themselves on an old-fashioned merry-go-round at the Firemen’s Carnival in St. Michaels. This event was held annually at the base of the same street seen in the iconic print of an African American street in St. Michaels, entitled, Hell’s Crossing.
This is a rare early 20th-c. depiction of an African American woman and her children engaged in carefree leisure. The wholesome, healthy quality of Eastern Shore life was celebrated far beyond Maryland–Emily Genauer, art critic for the NY Times, mentioned this print as one of the finest pieces in an exhibition in Manhattan in 1935.