Masses & Mainstream, was a New York-based journal, published from 1948 to 1963, and was an American Marxist monthly publication. It resulted from a merger between New Masses, which ceased publication in January 1948, and Mainstream, a Communist cultural quarterly established the previous year. Charles White contributed illustrations to a number of the covers and contents of Masses & Mainstream and the journal published a set of White’s prints in 1953. The February 1950 issue included on the cover a reference to the issue including "Drawings: Charles White."

The drawings appeared on pages 22 - 25 and were introduced as ""LIFT EVERY VOICE..." Four drawings by CHARLES WHITE."  'Lift Every Voice' was a reference to the song that came to be known as the Negro National Anthem.

The drawings, reproduced were all made in 1949 and were, Trenton Six, The Living Douglass [since known as Frederick Douglass Lives Again (The Ghost of Frederick Douglass), Pen and ink over pencil on illustration board, 50.8 x 76.2 cm; 20 x 30 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower left], Toward Liberation, [since known as The Open Gate, Graphite on paper 28 1/2 x 2 0 1/2 inches], Ingram Case [pen and ink, 71.1 x 91.4 cm (28 x 36 inches)]