Hale Aspacio Woodruff (1900-1980) was born in Cairo, Illinois to Augusta Bell Woodruff and George Woodruff but grew up in Nashville, Tennessee in segregated schools. He was a painter who studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis and the Chicago Institute of Art before spending years (1927-31) studying in Paris and working as an instructor in Mexico (1936). Woodruff applied his understanding of Post-Impressionism and Cubism to painting for social advocacy after his return to the United States. He expressed his sense of heritage in abstract paintings and became known for his murals, paintings, and prints.