Advisor(s)
Jessica Dallow
Committee Member(s)
Cathleen Cummings
Rachel Stephens
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Document Type
Thesis
Department (new version)
Arts & Humanities
Date of Award
1-7-2025
Abstract
This paper explores how Hale A. Woodruff used his Herndon Homes murals to engage in discussions about the housing crisis affecting African Americans in Atlanta during the Great Depression and the era of Jim Crow laws. These laws segregated White and Black people in public places. Moreover, Jim Crow laws restricted the rights of African Americans, and made them targets of violence, intimidation, and disenfranchisement. Woodruff's Herndon Homes murals sparked conversations about the action needed for improving the unsanitary and substandard housing prevalent in the heart of the city, thereby contributing to the broader dialogue surrounding social justice and equality. Most scholars analyze Woodruff’s œuvre through an aesthetic and chronological lens, focusing on his evolution as a modernist. However, I believe that examining the significance of Woodruff's 1942 Herndon Homes murals reveals the artist's deep commitment to social justice.
ProQuest ID
Recommended Citation
Gray, Audra LaNora, "Hale Woodruff’S Herndon Home’S Murals: Path To Economic Independence For The Marginalized" (2025). All ETDs from UAB. 7309.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7309
