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

Early life

Anita Scott was born in

Guaymas, Sonora Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the U.S. border. The municipality's formal name is Guaymas de Zara ...

, Mexico, in 1890, the daughter of William Henry Scott and Mary Ann Stokes Scott.Mitchell, Verner D
"A Family Answers the Call: Anita Scott Coleman, Literature, and War"
''War, Literature and the Arts'' 20(2008): 301-313. Her parents were American; her father was a Buffalo Soldier from Virginia, and her mother was a laundry worker, born under slavery in Florida.Defares, Giselle
"Anita Scott Coleman: Afro-Latinx Writer of the Harlem Renaissance"
''BESE'' (April 20, 2018). She was raised on a ranch near

Silver City, New Mexico Silver City is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat and the home of Western New Mexico University. As of the 2010 census the population was 10,315. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,704. History ...

, where her father worked for the railroad. She trained as a teacher at the New Mexico Teachers College, graduating in 1909."Famous Figures of Silver: Anita Scott Coleman"
Silver City Museum.

Career

Coleman wrote dozens of short stories, poems, silent film scenarios, and a children's book, ''The Singing Bells'' (1961).Champion, Laurie and Bruce A. Glasrud, Eds. ''Unfinished Masterpiece: The Harlem Renaissance Fiction of Anita Scott Coleman''. Lubbock TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2008. She also wrote a novel, ''Unfinished Masterpiece''. Her poetry was published in the volumes ''Small Wisdom'' (1937) and ''Reason for Singing'' (1948). Her poems were also included in ''Negro Voices'' (1938) and ''Ebony Rhythm'' (1948). Her stories and essays were published in national Black outlets including ''

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

, Half-Century'' ''Magazine'', '' The Messenger'', ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly M ...

'', and ''

The Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

,'' between 1919 and 1943. Scholarly interest in her works has grown in recent years, positioning her as a Western response to the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

, and as an

Afro-Latinx Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos, are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. government agencies as Black ...

writer. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, with her husband and children in 1926, and managed a boarding house. She won awards for her writing from ''The Crisis'' and from the Robert Browning Poetry Contest. In 1946, she was appointed chair of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

advisory board at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

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; daughters Willianna and Mary were also poets as young women. Coleman died in Los Angeles in 1960. Two collections of her writing were published in 2008, by

Texas Tech University Press The Texas Tech University Press (TTUP), founded in 1971, is the university press of the American Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The press is a member of the Association of University Presses. See also *List of English-lang ...

, and the

University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...

. Her grandson Douglas Jackson, a professor at

Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a public historically Black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 2,500 students in 28 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs and is a member-school of the Thurgood Ma ...

, has given presentations about her life. There is a state historic marker about Coleman near the Silver City Visitor Center in

Grant County, New Mexico Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. At the 2020 census, the population was 28,185. Its county seat is Silver City. The county was founded in 1868 and named for Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United S ...

, dedicated in 2015.

References

External links

Anita Scott Coleman
at AllPoetry (two poems) {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Anita Scott 1890 births 1960 deaths 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers African-American poets American women poets American women short story writers People from Guaymas People from Silver City, New Mexico Poets from New Mexico