Alma Thomas: A Life in Color Early Life and Education Born: 1891 in Columbus, Georgia, Alma Woodsey Thomas was the eldest of four children. Her parents were John Harris Thomas, a businessman, and Amelia Cantey Thomas, a dress designer. The family relocated to the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in 1907 due to racial violence and seeking better educational opportunities. Early Artistic Inclinations: From a young a…