The Flood
ca. 1930
Pan and ink on yellow trace
18” x 24”
This series of studies are artistically arranged on a sheet of yellow tracing paper, and tell the darker side of life at the water’s edge. In the vignettes, families are huddled together, gathering their animals and other belongings to head for higher ground. A person sits astride the roof of an Eastern Shore house that is floating in water. There is a group of three incarcerated persons in the background to indicate the malignant injustice of impoverished lives in low-lying areas, which on the Chesapeake Bay tended to be relegated to persons of color. It is interesting to note that nearly the entire Underground Railroad is in peril, particularly with the event of sea-level rise and the increasing incidents of severe weather events.