"Alma Woodsey Thomas" (September 22,1891-February 24,1978)

Was an African American Expressionist painter and art educator She lived and worked primarily in Washington,D.C. and the Washington Post described her as a force in the Washington Color School.She born the eldest of four children to John Harris Thomas,a businessman,a dress designer,in Columbus Georgia.In 1906 the family moved to Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington,D.C.,relocating due to racial violence in Georgia and the public school system of Washington.As a child she showed artistic interest,making puppets and sculptures at home.Alma attended Armstrong Technical School,where she took her first art classes.After graduating from high school in 1911,she studied kindergarten education at Miner Normal School until 1913.She served as a substitute teacher in Washington until 1914 when she obtained a permanent teaching position on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.Two years later in 1916,she started teaching kindergarten at the Thomas Garrett House in Wilmington,Delaware,staying there until 1923.Alma entered Howard University in 1921 as a home economics students,only to switch to fine art after studying under art department founder James V.Herring.She earned her BS in Fine Arts in 1924 from Howard,becoming the first graduate from the university fine art program.That year Alma began teaching at Shaw Junior High School,until retirement in 1960.While at Shaw Junior High,she started a community arts program that encouraged student appreciation of fine art.The Program supported marionette performances and the distribution of student designed holiday cards which were given to soldiers at the Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center.In 19334 she earned her masters in Art Education from Columbia University and studied painting at American under Jacob Kainen from 1950 to 1960.In 1958 she visited art centers in Western Europe on behalf of the Tyler School of Art.After the retired from teaching Alma dedicated herself to painting.She died living in the same house that her family moved in upon their arrival in Washington.