These works are studies for murals that hung in the Herndon Homes, then a celebrated new public housing project and among the last of its kind in Atlanta before it was demolished in 2010. For the commission, Woodruff addressed the benefits of replacing the city’s derelict housing with modern facilities, including indoor plumbing and outdoor communal spaces. Upon completing these studies, Woodruff presented them to James H. Therrell, then Atlanta’s director of housing, to commemorate his efforts to improve conditions for the community’s most impoverished citizens.