Woody Crumbo

Woody Crumbo, July 1984. Photo by Jim Argo. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.

Inducted: 1978

Hometown: Okmulgee

Patron of the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art and Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art

Orphaned at a young age, Potawatomi artist Woody Crumbo frequently broke rocks as punishment for speaking his native language at Chilocco Indian School. Despite the artist's struggles, the school was important to the his career because he met many people that would be influential in his life before he transferred to Wichita American Indian Institute for high school. For example, his roommate introduced him to the first Kiowa art students at the University of Oklahoma.

Woody Crumbo with unidentified woman, November 1978. Photo by Joe Miller. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.

Crumbo enrolled at OU in 1936 and studied under Oscar Brousse Jacobson, also featured in this exhibit. Though he often received "C" marks for his art assignments, Crumbo won one of two purchase prizes at a statewide art competition in Tulsa in December 1937, placing higher than his fellow classmates and one of his professors. He left OU in 1938 to direct the Art Department at Bacone College in Muskogee.

Woody Crumbo in regalia, left, with fellow students and a visiting professor, April 1937. Photo by G.A. Van Lear in "Sooner Magazine". Courtesy Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma.

Crumbo worked in several roles after leaving OU, including as an artist-in-residence for Thomas Gilcrease. Throughout his career, he encouraged Native American artists to produce art, establish connections in the art community, and market their work to a wider audience. He helped bring Native American art into mainstream American culture.

Potawatomi artist Woody Crumbo. Courtesy Tulsa Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.