Woodruff, Theresa A. (Theresa Ada Barker), 1903-1995
Biographical Statement
Theresa A. Woodruff was an educator, school administrator, and the wife of African American artist Hale Woodruff. Born Theresa Ada Barker on January 27, 1903, in Topeka, Kansas, she was the daughter of John Davis Barker and Evelyn Buckner Barker. Her mother was a descendent of John L. Buckner, who emigrated from Canada to Topeka and settled on land that became known as Bucknerville.
Woodruff received her B.A. degree from Washburn College in 1925. She taught English, Spanish, and civics classes at Lincoln High School in Kansas City until she married Hale Woodruff in June 1934. The couple had one son, Roy, who was born on March 30, 1935.
Following the family's moved to Atlanta, Georgia, Theresa Woodruff began teaching at Oglethorpe Elementary School on the Atlanta University Campus, where her husband had been recruited to etablish the university's art department. The family moved to New York City when Theresa and Hale received fellowships from the General Education Board and the Rosenwald Foundation, respectively. She taught at Walden School, a private elementary school while in New York and received her M.A. degree from New York University in 1944. She would go on to receive her Ed.D. degree from NYU in 1956.
In 1945, the Woodruffs returned briefly to Atlanta, where Theresa accepted the positions of principal at the Oglethorpe school and education instructor at Atlanta University. The Woodruffs returned to New York in 1947, and Theresa resumed a position with Walden School until accpeting a position as one of the first African American professors at the City College of the City University of New York. She retired from that position in 1970.
Throughout her life, Theresa Woodruff was activie in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the Zeta Boule of Sigma Pi Phi, the Harlem Hospital Auxiliary, the Harlem Dowling Children's Agency, and Girl Friends Inc. She died of heart failure on December 27, 1995, following a long illness.
Citation:
Author: Christopher HarterCitation:
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. African American National Biography, vol. 8 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 429."Hale Woodruff's widow, Theresa 'Ted' Woodruff, passes. New York Amsterdam News, January 6, 1996.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Theresa A. Woodruff papers
The Theresa A. Woodruff papers document to limited degrees the social life of Woodruff late in her life, as well as the career of her husband, African American artist Hale Woodruff.