Abstract
In this interview, Beatrice Elizabeth Coleman discusses her career as a teacher in normal schools in North Carolina and Pennsylvania; the Black communities in Providence and at Brown and Pembroke in the early twentieth century; and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. At the time of the interview she was 102 years old.
See also: O Pioneers! Brown Alumni Magazine, Nov/Dec 2008 and Passages: Beatrice Coleman, 109, Brown’s Class of 1925, Brown Alumni Magazine April/May 2014
Part 1
Recorded on May 24, 2006, Providence, RI
Interviewed by Jane Lancaster
Suggested Chicago style citation: Coleman, Beatrice Elizabeth. Interview. By Jane Lancaster. Pembroke Center Oral History Project, Brown University. May 24, 2006.
Biography
Beatrice Elizabeth Coleman graduated from Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island before entering Pembroke College at Brown University, where she majored in Latin. After teaching in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Coleman returned to work in Providence. Coleman was a longtime member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She passed away on April 3, 2014 at age 109. At the time of her death, she was thought to be the Brown University’s oldest alumni.