Alice Blanchard Coleman (, Merriam;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Mrs. George W. Coleman; May 7, 1858 – October 22, 1936) was an American

missionary society A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

leader. She served as president of the

Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society The Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society was an American Christian women's missionary organization. Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard co-founded, in 1877, the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, supporting missionary wom ...

and of the Council of Women for Home Missions (1908-16). Coleman was a trustee of

Hartshorn Memorial College Hartshorn Memorial College was a private college for African-American women in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1883 until 1932. When it closed, it was merged into Virginia Union University. History Hartshorn Memorial College was created in Ric ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

; Spelman Seminary (now

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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; and the

New England Baptist Hospital New England Baptist Hospital (NEBH) is a 141-bed adult medical-surgical hospital in Boston, Massachusetts specializing in orthopedic care and complex orthopedic procedures. NEBH is an international leader in the treatment of all forms of musculo ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Writing as "Mrs. George W. Coleman", she made at least two contributions to

periodical literature Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annual ''volumes ...

, "The Women's Congress of Missions", 1915, and "Recent developments in Mormonism", 1918. All of Coleman's life was spent in the old South End of Boston.

Early life and education

Alice Blanchard Merriam was born in Boston,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, May 7, 1858. Her parents were James Whyte Merriam (1828-1881), who was employed by the Boston City Missionary Society, and Ellen Maria (Blanchard) Merriam (d. 1896). A sister, Helen Whyte Merriam (b. 1868) was the only sibling. She was graduated from the Everett Grammar School in 1873, and immediately went abroad with her parents for nine months, spending a large part of the time in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

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, and absorbing with great eagerness all that fitted on to the studies of the grammar school, especially the history of England. In September, 1874, she entered Bradford Academy (later,

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate le ...

), in

Bradford, Massachusetts Bradford is a village and former town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Eastern Bradford is the current town of Groveland, while western Bradford was annexed by the city of Haverhill, and today consists of the part of Haverhill o ...

, the oldest academy in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

for young women, where she studied under Miss Annie E. Johnson, its principal, and one of the best-known educators of that time. The four years of boarding school life were marked by the awakening of the missionary spirit and by the resolve to herself to become a foreign missionary. She graduated in 1878, with the expectation of spending one year in the further study of Latin and Greek in order to fit herself for

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, but her eyes, already a source of trouble and anxiety, again gave out and all thought of further study or of any life work which would involve language study had to be abandoned.

Career

In the fall of 1879, the Woman's Home Missionary Association (Congregational) was organized in

under the leadership of her former principal, Annie E. Johnson. The purpose of the association was the prosecution of educational and missionary work among the women and children of the U.S., especially among the various races and religions. This opened the door for Coleman's entrance into the work of home missions which became the main work of her life. At the request of the directors of the association, she visited all its fields of work in 1884 in order to prepare herself to speak of the work among the churches. The trip covered the country as far west as

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and as far south as

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, including the work among the

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, Native Americans,

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

, and pioneer settlements. The next year was spent in visiting the churches and marked the beginning of her platform work. In 1886, she transferred her denominational relationship to a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church, and at once became a member of the board of directors of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, thus continuing her activity in home mission work and as a speaker among the churches. Various lines of church work also claimed a considerable share of her time and strength. In 1891, she became president of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society and held that position until April, 1911, when, by the consolidation of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, headquarters in Boston, and the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society, headquarters in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, a new national organization was formed having the name of the Boston organization but with headquarters in Chicago. Coleman was the first vice-president of the new organization and president of the New England Branch of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society, the branch being a local organization whose purpose was the holding of inspirational meetings and otherwise fostering the work of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society. In December, 1906, the Interdenominational Committee of Women for Home Mission Conferences for the East was formed to provide for and to conduct a summer conference in

Northfield, Massachusetts Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 2,866 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connectic ...

. For the first three years, she served the committee as its president, and thereafter, a member of the governing body. As a result of the formation of similar committees in different parts of the country, the Council of Women for Home Missions was organized in November, 1908, and Coleman served as president of the council from its beginning, till 1916. The Home Mission work brought Coleman into a close relationship to the schools and colleges provided for African-Americans of the South and Coleman was a trustee of Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Virginia, and of Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. She also served as a trustee of the New England Baptist Hospital, Boston. Coleman served as president of the Massachusetts Council for Patriotic Service, and as vice-president of the International Council for Patriotic Service. Her activities in connection with the Ford Hall meetings in Boston and the Sagamore Sociological Conference, which met each summer at their summer home, had her warmest sympathy and support though she had no official connection with them. Coleman had, however, been for several years one of the non-resident workers of the Denison House, a

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...

for women in a district largely populated by Syrians and Italians. Coleman favored

woman suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

. She was a member of the Twentieth Century Club, and served as president of the Women's City Club.

Personal life

On June 30, 1891, she married George W. Coleman of Boston. They had no children. Alice Blanchard Merriam Coleman died October 22, 1936.

Selected works

* "The Women's Congress of Missions", 1915 * "Recent developments in Mormonism", 1918

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Alice Blanchard 1858 births 1936 deaths People from South End, Boston Social leaders Trustees of universities and colleges in the United States Clubwomen American Protestant religious leaders 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American religious writers 19th-century Baptists 20th-century Baptists