March is National Women’s Month. And there is still one more person to celebrate for Black History Month. And so to bridge the two months, I want to share a story from Ginger Dillard, our Director of Advocacy Services, about one of her favorite people that she worked with as an Options Counselor in Louisa.
Alice Coleman, a life-long resident of Louisa County, turned 97 on May 5, 2007 (the time of this short biography). Mrs. Coleman resided in the same house she was born in and the home in which she raised her own children. This delightful woman was the youngest of nine children of William Henry Haynes and Mary Scott, and at this point, she was the only surviving member of her brothers and sisters.
Mrs. Coleman is part of the living history of the Louisa community. She fondly recalled the stories of her life and her family. “My grandfather came to Louisa from Africa, [being enslaved]. He asked his boss what his name would be and the man said ‘You’ll take my name, Haynes. You will be Alexander Haynes’. I never met my grandparents. They passed before I was old enough to remember. My parents told me about them.” Both sides of her family have lived in Louisa as far as anyone knows. Her father hauled lumber and fertilizer with horse teams for a local family. Her mother was a well-known midwife and delivered many children. The last baby she delivered was Mrs. Coleman’s own daughter, Jean.
Mrs. Coleman attended school in a log building next to Philippi Church. “The land for the church and school was donated to the blacks by Dr. Pendleton and his family. I say I graduated from the seventh grade, but I spent the last year looking at a cute boy.” Mrs. Coleman eventually found her true love with her husband, Edward Coleman, from nearby Apple Grove. Edward and Alice moved into her family home to care for her mother until she passed, and Alice lived there until she was 100, much as she always had.
Mrs. Coleman couldn’t say what she thought the most amazing change had been in the world over her 97 years. She said that she always treated people well, and they always treated her well. She had many close relationships with family and neighbors, and they looked after her. Maintaining her independence was the most important thing to Mrs. Coleman. She knew all of her neighbors even those who had only moved to the area recently, after she was unable to leave her house. Everyone had their task. One person checked her mail every day, one did banking, one brought in wood, one picked up groceries, and Ginger didn’t think any of them knew about the others. She had it all worked out. Ginger and her father cut and delivered specially cut small pieces of wood for her because she had what they call a baby bear wood stove, it was narrow and she could not handle wood any larger than that.
JABA provided many services to help her stay in her home, despite all of the challenges. Eventually at 100, she went to live with her daughter. With an entire community returning her caring, she was able to realize her dream of independence. She died in 2013 at the age of 102.
We celebrate Mrs. Coleman for a life well-lived, and her lasting impact on so many in Louisa, and now across JABA.