Throughout the 1950's and 1960's Norman Rockwell significantly impacted our nation's perception of civil rights and race issues through symbolism and imagery in his paintings. Norman Rockwell's paintings depict the life of small town America in a humorous manner as well as telling a story. The story lines of his paintings make one feel as if they are in the painting themselves. "Certainly if the idea is not good and if it does not interest and intrigue people, any other good qualities which the picture may possess will be lost because they will not be seen" (Rockwell 28). Rockwell put such effort and diligence into making his paintings that he created art in such a way he was able to send an important message subtly. This was a very uncommon technique during the time period which he painted. .
Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 in New York City. From the time he was a young kid, Norman knew that he wanted to be an artist. He was very non-athletic, skinny, and clumsy as a boy. Rockwell left high school early to study art full time at the National Academy of Design before he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York City. When Rockwell was just eighteen he began to do illustrations for a Boy Scouts magazine named Boys" Life. Norman Rockwell enlisted in the navy during World War I, and used the war and post war as the subject of many of his paintings. Although the war did not bring the best of news his paintings were very peaceful and positive. .
Sending positive messages was something that Norman Rockwell was very fond of and also very good at. The period from the mid-fifties through the late sixties was one of Rockwell's greatest achievement and advancement in terms of making an optimistic statement. "In his pictures depicting civil rights issues, Rockwell often focused on children and their role in the struggle" (Rockwell Retrospective 109). The Problem We All Live With is one of Rockwell's most famous illustrations concerning civil rights; it embodies the hardships that black children went through during the period of desegregation in schools.