Move On Up A Little Higher
- On View
- Visual Arts Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Exhibition
- Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
- Created by
- White, Charles, American, 1918 - 1979
- Date
- 1961
- Medium
- charcoal black and carbon black pencil on illustration board
- Dimensions
- H x W: 40 1/4 × 48 × 3/16 in. (102.2 × 121.9 × 0.5 cm)
- Caption
- Charles White’s drawing, Move On Up a Little Higher, interweaves themes of religion, music, visual art, and the struggle for civil rights. The title refers to a gospel song by William Herbert Brewster in the early 1940s. Brewster stated that he wrote the song to “inspire Black people to move up higher,” a dangerous message that could be sung, but not openly said, in the segregated South. Following Mahalia Jackson’s recording of the composition in 1948, “Move On Up a Little Higher” became an iconic song within the Civil Rights Movement.
- White’s drawing reveals the immense power of Black women within the church, as well as in the struggle for race and gender equality.
- Description
- This charcoal and Wolff carbon pencil drawing depicts a monumental woman. She is seated centered left-of-center against a plain background. Gazing downwards with arms upraised, her robe is draped loosely across her lap. It is signed by the artist in the lower right corner.
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Movement
- Civil Rights Movement
- Topic
- Art
- Christianity
- Civil rights
- Gospel (Music)
- Religion
- The Black Church
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2009.6
- Restrictions & Rights
- © 1961 The Charles White Archive
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.