Hale Woodruff, The Underground Railroad

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:04][music] >> We're standing in the galleries at the William Harvey Museum of Art on the campus of Talladega College. We're in a gallery that contains the six amazing paintings by the early 20th century American artist Hale Woodruff that he painted for this college. The first three tell the story of the Amistad mutiny and the return to Africa, but there's a second set of three and we're looking at one of those called the Underground Railroad.

[00:00:35]>> So this canvas is a depiction of the Underground Railroad movement. So it was a movement of abolitionists to facilitate African Americans in bondage to free states. This painting continues with the same theme and the alliance of the abolitionists and their brothers.

[00:00:58]And I use the word brother because early on when the American Missionary Association, the AMA, were writing about their work and their cause, what remained consistent was this idea of brotherhood. That if their fellow brethren were not free, then they themselves were not free. And what they wanted most was this country to be free.

[00:01:24]This is a coming together of people who saw a common purpose and a common goal.

[00:01:30]So we are looking at generations. Older gentleman who probably spent most of his life in bondage, he could begin a new life. And even if it's an existence that is not as full as some of the younger people portrayed in the canvas, there's still hope that he could get to land where he is a free human being. And you can see it in his eyes. You can see the way he is looking at that land.

[00:02:00]you cross that river where Woodruff so brilliantly places the mountains, the topography of Ohio, that that is where he wants to be. On the side of the house an inscription reads "Stateline, Ohio, half mile." The free state of Ohio.

[00:02:18]>> state of Ohio. And the movement of the canvas is from left to right starting with that older figure who I sense some trepidation. I do too, but I also sense hope. And then this movement toward the center of the canvas where we have a large group of figures, this rearing horse in the background that also points us in the direction of the steamship.

[00:02:42]And one of the things that is so striking about this canvas is the fact that within the faces of these individuals are longing for this journey across the river is the sense that no matter what, they did not want to go back. They did not want to endure the horrific lives that they had once lived on the opposite side of the river. The horse is moving up and the rider is tearing down a poster that is reading runaway slave reward $400. The Dred Scott decision, the Fugitive Slave Act. If you were enslaved and you ran away, you could be taken back into bondage. So there was trauma associated with many of these people in this canvas that it was imperative that they kept this secret, that they trusted each other. All of those emotions are coming up. The woman who is at the left, she's sitting down.

[00:03:52]I see her back holding a Bible. There's this moment of a new journey, of a new possibility and fear. You can even see it on the profile of her face that there is trepidation, there's fear, but hope.

[00:04:06]And the snatching down of the runaway slave advertisement is that they will move forward. This canvas gives me hope.

[00:04:15]Yes. The colors repeat >> Mhm. in order to unify the composition.

[00:04:21]They're highlighting moments that Woodruff wants us to pay attention to.

[00:04:26]So it's this light colored brown jacket of the older gentleman, the purple shawl, the scarf of the figure in the center of the canvas, the green shirt, the green jacket on the gentleman waving the red handkerchief. There's no question that Woodruff is asking us to slow down and pay attention to the many kinds of interactions that are taking place. The child on the right with her hand in the gentleman with the fancy top hat. And she's also barefoot. I'm also noticing shoes and lack thereof.

[00:05:06]Exactly. And shoes that have been well worn.

[00:05:10]>> Well worn, no shoelaces. Versus the well heeled gentleman on the right. But also hats. The hat on the figure riding the horse. Then we move down to the straw hat of the figure in the purple cape.

[00:05:25]And then the figure holding this hat.

[00:05:27]>> Yes. And then the hat on the ground.

[00:05:30]>> Yes. Woodruff is so brilliantly telling us that they still had their own property. That they themselves had agency even in their social condition.

[00:05:40]And so whatever possessions that they had, they were willing to gather them and take them on the voyage to their new life. And so it's so important for us to remember that these paintings were in Savery Library on the campus at Talladega College and that students walking into the library would have been able to look up and see these canvases and learn these stories in this new way.

[00:06:05]That is the most powerful element of these canvases, their presence among students. It was a reminder of taking pride in yourself no matter what your condition was. And that these people had that pride, had that agency, had that willingness to move towards a better life. That is essentially what education is about and that is at the heart of why they're here. And all so beautifully painted by Hale Woodruff. He considered these paintings the ones that he was most proud of. He was commissioned to paint the first cycle of the Amistad incident, but he learned so much from creating those paintings that he positioned himself to create these works. It's an amazing achievement.

[00:06:57]>> It is, indeed.

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