Anita Scott Coleman

Anita Scott was born on November 27, 1890, in Guaymas, Sonora. Her father, William Henry Scott, had met her mother, Mary Ann, near Fort Elliott, Texas, where he served as a Buffalo Soldier. She studied at the teachers' college in Silver City and taught school until she married James Harold Coleman, a printer and photographer, in 1916. Her first thirteen stories were published in New Mexico between 1919 and 1925; in 1926 she joined her husband in Los Angeles. Her poems appeared as Small Wisdom in 1937 and Reason for Singing in 1948. She died in 1960.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Anita Scott Coleman Author and Poet (1890-1960) Anita Scott Coleman's mother was a slave and her father a Buffalo Soldier. Raised on a ranch near Silver City, her award- winning essays, stories, and poems empha- sized racial pride and black women's issues during the Harlem Renaissance, the "New Negro Movement" of the 1920's. Her essay "Arizona and New Mexico-The Land of Esperanza" speaks of opportunity in a land of hope: "For here prevails for every man be he white or black a hardier philosophy- and a bigger and better chance, that is not encountered elsewhere in these United States." Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Santa Rita Copper Mine — 13 mi
  The copper pit east of Silver City that swallowed the town it was named for, beneath a spire of volcanic rock long said to look like a nun at prayer.
• City of Rocks State Park — 21 mi
  Pinnacles of volcanic tuff up to forty feet high standing in the grassland between Deming and Silver City, worn out of an eruption 34.9 million years ago.

More markers nearby

• Silver City — 0.9 mi
• Old Silver City Cemetery — 1.5 mi
• Pinos Altos — 6.9 mi
• Fort Bayard - 1866-1900 / Fort Bayard National Cemetery — 7.2 mi