Pharaoh’s Army Got Drownded
1940
Black-and-white lithograph
9 7/8” x 12 3/4” plate
In her correspondence with a respected art critic in New York City, the artist humbly stated that, in creating her work, she was merely recording the story as the Copperville, Maryland congregation described it to her, while adding the following interpretation:
This song has many variations—“Go Down Moses,” “Didn’t Ole Pharaoh Get Los’,” “Oh! Sister Mary, Don’t You Weep.” This being a basic theme of the release of an oppressed people from bondage, these songs of liberation have meaning not only for other days, but look to more freedom now for the colored citizens of a democracy.