Sharing The Burden

In “Sharing The Burden,” Washington illustrates the far-reaching family contributions of the sharecropper woman.  With every hand needed in the fields to make ends meet, the entire sharecropper family, including women and children, were required to “share the burden” for survival in the Reconstruction era American south. Washington postures the women featured in “Sharing The Burden” with grace and dignity, yet imbues their facial expressions with a sense of underlying sadness -- an outward indicator of the overwhelming stresses placed on every member of the sharecropper family.