Anita Scott Coleman

Anita Scott Coleman (November 27, 1890 – March 27, 1960) was an American writer born in Mexico and raised in New Mexico. She wrote dozens of short stories, poems, silent film scenarios, and also wrote books such as the children's book The Singing Bells and a novel called Unfinished Masterpiece. Her stories and essays were published in national Black outlets including Opportunity, Half-Century Magazine, The Messenger, The Crisis, and The Pittsburgh Courier.

Early life Anita Scott was born in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, in 1890, the daughter of William Henry Scott and Mary Ann Stokes Scott. Her parents were American; her father was a Buffalo Soldier from Virginia, and her mother was a laundry worker, born under slavery in Florida. 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.

Career Coleman wrote dozens of short stories, poems, silent film scenarios, and a children's book, The Singing Bells (1961). 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, Half-Century Magazine, The Messenger, The Crisis, and The Pittsburgh Courier, between 1919 and 1943. Scholarly interest in her works has grown in recent years, positioning her as a Western response to the Harlem Renaissance, and as an Afro-Latinx writer. and managed a boarding house. She won awards for her writing from The Crisis In 1946, she was appointed chair of the YWCA advisory board at the University of Southern California.

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. and the University of Oklahoma Press.

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