Seeing Things Differently

P Cotton, by Nellie Mae Rowe (1900–1982), is a work of folk art that captures Rowe’s experiences as an African American woman living in rural Georgia, United States. Nellie Mae Rowe was born on July 4, 1900, as the ninth of ten children. The family lived on a rented farm 20 miles south of Atlanta. Her father, a farmer and blacksmith, was born a slave in 1854; her mother, born the year after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1864), was a gospel singer and talented quilter. Early childhood was pleasant for Nellie Mae, who had a natural affinity for drawing and making dolls. However, after 4 years of elementary school, she was put to work on the family farm and in the neighbors’ fields. At 16, she married Ben Wheat, and in 1930, the couple moved to Vinings, Georgia. Wheat died in 1936, and after a year, Nellie Mae married an older widower, Henry Rowe. During and after marriage, Nellie Mae Rowe worked as a domestic servant. When her second husband died in 1948, she felt liberated to resurrect her early creative urges. She converted her 4-room Vinings home into her “playhouse”—decorating all available space inside and out in the yard with dolls, drawings, and other fanciful creations. A devout Christian, she attributed her talent to God. Rowe worked with humble materials such as crayon, cardboard, chewing gum, and felt-tip markers, using bright colors and unexpected juxtapositions to create a sense of