Anita Scott Coleman

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

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
OccupationWriter

Early life

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

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 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 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

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
  1. Mitchell, Verner D. "A Family Answers the Call: Anita Scott Coleman, Literature, and War" War, Literature and the Arts 20(2008): 301-313.
  2. Defares, Giselle. "Anita Scott Coleman: Afro-Latinx Writer of the Harlem Renaissance" BESE (April 20, 2018).
  3. "Famous Figures of Silver: Anita Scott Coleman" Silver City Museum.
  4. Coleman, Anita Scott (1961). The Singing Bells. Broadman Press.
  5. 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. 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. "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. Internet Archive. London : Serpent's Tail. 1993. ISBN 978-1-85242-317-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. 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. Sayers, Emma Lue (1926-11-06). "Ink Slingers". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "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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