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Anita Scott Coleman
An African-American woman with short hair, wearing glasses and a dress with a ruffled collar
Anita Scott Coleman, from a 1926 publication
BornNovember 27, 1890
Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico
DiedMarch 27, 1960 (aged 69)
Los Angeles, California, US
EducationNew Mexico Teachers College
OccupationWriter

Anita Scott Coleman (November 27, 1890 – March 27, 1960) was an American writer born in Mexico and raised in New Mexico.

Early life

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Anita Scott was born in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, in 1890, the daughter of William Henry Scott and Mary Ann Stokes Scott.[1] Her parents were American; her father was a Buffalo Soldier from Virginia, and her mother was a laundry worker, born under slavery in Florida.[2] She was raised on a ranch near Silver City, New Mexico, where her father worked for the railroad. She trained as a teacher at the New Mexico Teachers College, graduating in 1909.[1][3]

Career

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Coleman wrote dozens of short stories, poems, silent film scenarios, and a children's book, The Singing Bells (1961).[4][5] She also wrote a novel, Unfinished Masterpiece.[6] Her poetry was published in the volumes Small Wisdom (1937) and Reason for Singing (1948).[7] Her poems were also included in Negro Voices (1938)[8] and Ebony Rhythm (1948).[9][10] Her stories and essays were published in national Black outlets including Opportunity, Half-Century Magazine, The Messenger, The Crisis,[11][12] and The Pittsburgh Courier,[13] between 1919 and 1943.[14] Scholarly interest in her works has grown in recent years,[15] positioning her as a Western response to the Harlem Renaissance,[10][16] and as an Afro-Latinx writer.[2]

She moved to Los Angeles, California, with her husband and children in 1926,[17] and managed a boarding house. She won awards for her writing from The Crisis[12][17] and from the Robert Browning Poetry Contest.[18][19] In 1946, she was appointed chair of the YWCA advisory board at the University of Southern California.[20]

Personal life and legacy

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In 1916, Anita Scott married James Harold Coleman, a photographer and printer. They had five children born between 1917 and 1928;[1][21] daughters Willianna and Mary were also poets as young women.[18] Coleman died in Los Angeles in 1960.[3] Two collections of her writing were published in 2008, by Texas Tech University Press,[5][22] and the University of Oklahoma Press.[16] Her grandson Douglas Jackson, a professor at Elizabeth City State University, has given presentations about her life.[23]

There is a state historic marker about Coleman near the Silver City Visitor Center in Grant County, New Mexico,[24] dedicated in 2015.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Mitchell, Verner D. "A Family Answers the Call: Anita Scott Coleman, Literature, and War" War, Literature and the Arts 20(2008): 301-313.
  2. ^ a b Defares, Giselle. "Anita Scott Coleman: Afro-Latinx Writer of the Harlem Renaissance" BESE (April 20, 2018).
  3. ^ a b "Famous Figures of Silver: Anita Scott Coleman" Silver City Museum.
  4. ^ Coleman, Anita Scott (1961). The Singing Bells. Broadman Press.
  5. ^ a b Champion, Laurie and Bruce A. Glasrud, Eds. Unfinished Masterpiece: The Harlem Renaissance Fiction of Anita Scott Coleman. Lubbock TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2008.
  6. ^ Hattum, Fatima van (2019-03-22). "Anita Scott Coleman". NewMexicoWomen.Org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  7. ^ Coleman, Anita Scott (1948). Reason for Singing. Decker Press.
  8. ^ Murphy, Beatrice M. (1938). Negro Voices. H. Harrison.
  9. ^ Murphy, Beatrice M. (1948). Ebony Rhythm: An Anthology of Contemporary Negro Verse. Exposition Press. ISBN 978-0-598-53490-3.
  10. ^ a b Young, Mary E. (1997). "Anita Scott Coleman: A Neglected Harlem Renaissance Writer". CLA Journal. 40 (3): 271–287. ISSN 0007-8549. JSTOR 44324976.
  11. ^ "Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to Anita Scott Coleman". W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, University of Massachusetts Amherst. January 8, 1930. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  12. ^ a b "Negro Prize Winners". Des Moines Tribune. 1926-10-28. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Coleman, Anita Scott (1941-10-11). "Unofficial Broadcast". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Next Week's Story". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1943-08-14. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ The Sleeper wakes : Harlem renaissance stories by women. London: Serpent's Tail. 1993. ISBN 978-1-85242-317-9.
  16. ^ a b Coleman, Anita Scott (2008). Western echoes of the Harlem Renaissance : the life and writings of Anita Scott Coleman. Cynthia J. Davis, Verner D. Mitchell. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3956-2. OCLC 212432556.
  17. ^ a b Sayers, Emma Lue (1926-11-06). "Ink Slingers". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "Anita Scott Coleman Victor in California Poets Contest". California Eagle. 1940-04-25. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Three to Talk Today for U. R. Writers Week". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1940-04-16. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Matron Appointed to Board on S. C. Campus". California Eagle. 1946-02-07. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "The Author". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1943-08-21. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Henderson, Carol E. (2009). "Unfinished Masterpiece: The Harlem Renaissance Fiction of Anita Scott Coleman". African American Review. 43 (2–3): 516–517. doi:10.1353/afa.2009.0008. ISSN 1945-6182. S2CID 161347937.
  23. ^ "History for Lunch: Anita Scott Coleman: Author and Poet of the Harlem Renaissance". Museum of the Albemarle. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  24. ^ "Anita Scott Coleman", New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative.
  25. ^ "Anita Scott Coleman Historic Marker Dedication". Grant County Beat. September 9, 2015. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
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