When you visit Silver City, be sure to visit the campus of the Western New Mexico University. There you will find the historical marker that celebrates the life and contributions of Anita Scott Coleman.
Her mother was a slave and her father was a Buffalo Soldier. They moved from Texas to New Mexico right after her birth. She was raised on a ranch near Silver City.
She attended New Mexico Teachers College in Silver City, and taught school for several years. In 1916 she married James Harold Coleman, a printer and photographer born in Virginia. She left teaching and turned her attention to writing at that time.
Anita’s award winning essays, stories and poems emphasized racial pride and black women’s issues. She wrote more than thirty short stories as during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s.
Much of Coleman’s writing focused on the Southwest. In “The Little Grey House,” Coleman describes the availability of home ownership for southwestern African Americans. Her essay, “Arizona and New Mexico – The Land of Esperanza” speaks of opportunity and hope.
Anita Scott Coleman died in Los Angeles in 1960, but her inspiring stories live on.
Traveling New Mexico covers both the highway historical markers and state park markers, more than 500 in number, and is easier to use than the other book [from another publisher] focusing on the 350 highway historic markers. The savvy traveler will probably want to have both guides. But if you're trying to save money, go with Traveling New Mexico, which has everything the other does, with a bonus of 150 state park markers."
New Mexico Magazine
"Whether resident or visitor, this is a valuable guide for exploring this remarkable state, with more than 500 scenic markers to assist you. Who cares if the journey takes a while?"Silver City Daily Press
