A block of 15th Street NW in Washington, DC, where renowned abstract painter Alma Thomas (1891-1978) lived for most of her life, has been renamed “Alma Thomas Way.” The street signs now stand at the corners of 15th and Church streets and 15th and Q streets, bookending the house at 1530 15th Street NW that her parents purchased in 1907. The renaming follows a bill introduced by District Councilmembers Christina Henderson and Brooke Pinto, who led a ceremony to honor the artist. Henderson stated the goal is to “elevate and introduce local heroes to folks for the next generation.”
Alma Thomas was a trailblazing figure: the first Black woman to have her work enter the White House’s permanent collection, the first student to earn a fine arts degree at Howard University (1924), and a founding vice president of the Barnett-Aden Gallery, one of the first Black-owned art galleries in the US. After retiring from a long career as a high school art teacher, she found international success as a standout of the Washington Color School, and at age 80 became the first Black woman to receive a solo show at the Whitney Museum. The street renaming is the latest in a series of local honors, including a city-wide day of remembrance declared by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2021 and a 2023-24 exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It matters because it permanently inscribes the legacy of a pioneering Black female artist into the physical landscape of the nation’s capital, ensuring her story is visible to future generations.