Pan-Americanism, Patriotism, and Race Pride in Charles White’s Hampton Mural

AbstractSince its presentation to the college more than seventy years ago, Charles White’s Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America continues to be recognized primarily for promoting public knowledge and pride in African American history. Art critics and scholars generally have focused on the various portrait figures in the composition and interpreted the painting as a didactic corrective to the predominantly white historical narratives taught to schoolchildren. While these historical figures would have been recognizable to contemporary viewers, the meaning and function of the colossal being that dominates the central axis of the picture plane and looms over this densely populated image remains enigmatic.