This image of Hale Woodruff at Atlanta University is from Arthur Rothstein’s March 1942 assignment for the Office of War Information. He traveled from North Carolina to Alabama to photograph Black American soldiers, scientists, farmers, and educators. Several of these images were used in the widely distributed booklet, “Negroes and the War,” in which President Roosevelt promoted broad support for the war effort.

Hale Woodruff (1900 - 1980) is best known for his paintings, prints, and murals. He was also a pioneer in art education and mentored a generation of Black artists. In the 1920s and 30s he studied in Paris and travelled to Mexico to apprentice with Diego Rivera. He shared the muralist’s passion for art as social advocacy. In the 1940s, at Atlanta University, Woodruff established the first art school for African Americans in the Southeast, and founded the influential “Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, and Prints by Negro Artists.” In 1946 Woodruff joined the faculty at New York University.