(Photo: Wikicommons)

Painter and educator Hale A. Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, on Aug. 26, 1900. Woodruff is best known for his work in the cubist and abstract styles. Most famously, he painted the six-panel Amistad Murals in 1938, which depicted the historic slave revolt onboard a Spanish ship in July 1839, the U.S. Supreme Court case in which the captured slaves fought for their freedom and the return of the slaves to Africa. In 1931, Woodruff established the art department at Clark Atlanta University, where he taught for nearly 40 years, and created exhibitions for Black artists called the Atlanta Annuals. His works can be seen today at a number of venues across the country, including Clark Atlanta University and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

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