1921. Rose Standish, of New York's Cooper Union Art
School and the Art Students League, was the Instructor
of Fine and Industrial Arts for nearly a decade. During
her term at the institution, she offered an art and design
course through the home economics department, a
mechanical drawing class as a part of the industrial arts
program, and a course in "drawing free-hand" for those
whose sole concern was the study of art. ⁷

The gradual shift to a more fully developed liberal
arts curriculum favored fine arts instruction over indus-
trial arts training. However, the school's full commitment
to the arts was not realized until 1931 when Hale Aspacio
Woodruff ( 1900-1980), an African American painter,
was hired to establish an art department in the Atlanta
University Center (AUC). ⁸ Dr. John Hope, president
of Atlanta University, and Florence Reed, president of
Spelman College, believed that in order to build a well-
rounded liberal arts program, a fine arts component
emphasizing painting, sculpture, and architecture had to
be included. Woodruff was given the task of providing
interested AUC students with the opportunity to study
painting on Spelman's campus because of his superior
training at the Herron Art School in Indianapolis, In-
diana, and his experience abroad. Three years later,
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was hired to teach sculpture,
art history, and architecture. As a graduate of the Rhode
Island School of Design and the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, Prophet became the first African American
woman to teach art at the college. Her experience as an
internationally exhibited artist and her success as the
winner of the 1930 Harmon Foundation prize for sculp-
ture made her a role model for Spelman students, espe-
cially those interested in becoming artists. ⁹ In order to
provide proper aesthetic training for these women, the
Department of Art was established in the mid-thirties,
making it easier for students who chose to become artists
or art educators to identify with the discipline directly,
rather than through education or home economics
courses. Courses designed specifically for the artistic
education of Spelman women by Woodruff and Prophet
during their tenure at the college provided a foundation
for faculty who followed.

The museum that was established in 1899 disap-
peared during the industrial arts phase of the college's
history. However, Hale Woodruff continued exhibiting
works of art and using them as teaching tools. Through
his efforts and the endeavors of others, Spelman Col-
lege has amassed an internationally recognized collec-
tion of paintings, prints, and photographs as well as an
impressive body of African sculptures and textiles. With
the founding of the new Spelman College Museum of
Fine Art, located in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby
Academic Center, the college has made certain that the
arts will continue to play an integral part in the educa-
tion of African American women well into the next cen-
tury. As we enter this new phase, Spelman will surely
play a pivotal role in providing the nation with future
generations of artists/scholars, art historians, critics, and
museum professionals.

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