“Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.”
— Alma woodsey thomas
More about Alma Woodsey Thomas
Alma Woodsey Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1891. Her parents, John Harris Thomas, a businessman, and Amelia Cantey Thomas, a dress designer valued education and uplift. One reason might be that Alma’s maternal grandfather built a sizable farm after gaining his freedom and sent his ten children to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Alma was the first Black woman to have a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She was also the first Black woman to have work acquired by the White House. Her life was distinctive in other ways, too. As an artist and world traveler who never married or had children, she circumvented society’s expectations for Black women born in the 19th century.
