Elaine J. Coates

Elaine Johnson Coates (born September 15, 1937) is an American social worker and educator. She is the first African American graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Elaine J. Coates
Born (1937-09-15) September 15, 1937
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Alma materUniversity of Maryland, College Park (BA)
OccupationSocial worker, educator
Known forFirst African American graduate of University of Maryland

Life

Coates was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 15, 1937. She was the daughter of a domestic worker and railroad porter and attended the then-segregated Frederick Douglass High School. Following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, Coates enrolled in the University of Maryland in 1955 where she was one of the few African American undergraduates allowed to live on campus.[1] Her high school counselor refused to write Coates a letter of recommendation suggesting she find a job instead; at her mother's urging, Coates wrote her own letter, ultimately earning a four-year scholarship. She resided in Caroline Hall and would frequently receive threats and insults, and frequently received unfair treatment from her professors.[2] She was a member of the Red Cross Club.[3] Coates graduated in 1959 from the College of Education. She was the first African American student to graduate from University of Maryland, College Park.[2][Notes 1]

Coates went on to become a social worker and educator.[2] She spent some time teaching at the high school that she herself had attended, but later earned a master's degree in social work and also obtained her certification as a Licensed Certified Social Worker–Clinical (LCSW-C).[6] She went on to work in providing social services to pediatric and adult trauma patients at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. After retiring in 2006, she continued counseling as a volunteer.[6]

Her daughter and son also attended the University of Maryland.[5][6][7]

Awards and honors

In April, 2019, Coates was the first to receive the University of Maryland Alumni Association's new annual award meant "to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to fostering diversity and inclusion nationally and globally." The award was then named in her honor, the "Elaine Johnson Coates Award."[8][6]

In May, 2019, Coates was honored at the University of Maryland graduation ceremony. Addressing the crowd, Coates said, "I stand on this podium and look at the diversity in the beautiful faces of the graduation class... and it tells me that my journey mattered.[9]

Coates received an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland in May, 2020.[10]

In July, 2020, University of Maryland president Darryll Pines announced that one of the university's new residence halls would be named to honor Coates' having been the university's first African-American woman to graduate.[11]

See also

Notes
  1. Coates was not the first African American student admitted to the University of Maryland, as Hiram Whittle had entered 4 years before her, in 1951.[4] Six other black students entered in the same class as Coates in 1955.[5] Both Whittle and those who began with Coates dropped out within a year of their admittance,[4][5] leaving her as the first African American to graduate.

References
  1. "Elaine J. Coates oral history". Archival Collections. University of Maryland. August 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  2. Levin, Sala (September 10, 2019). "My Journey Mattered". Terp. University of Maryland. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  3. Speck, Jason G. (2010). University of Maryland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7385-8644-1.
  4. Slater, Robert Bruce (1996). "The First Black Graduates of the Nation's 50 Flagship State Universities". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (13): 72–85. doi:10.2307/2963173. ISSN 1077-3711. JSTOR 2963173.
  5. Gerwitz, Adina (1992). "Transformations: the Changing Role of Women on Campus". College Park alumni magazine. University of Maryland. pp. 9–13.
  6. "Elaine Johnson Coates Award". University of Maryland. 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2020. When she returned to Baltimore 2 years later, she returned to social work at the Dept of Social Services in Baltimore, and went on to receive her Master’s degree in Social Work, also obtained her certification as a Licensed Certified Social Worker- Clinical. Later, Elaine expanded her social service work to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, working in adult and pediatric trauma services. Elaine Johnson Coates has been retired since 2006, but continues volunteer family and individual counseling.
  7. Rishe, Adina (May 25, 1987). "Mother and daughter have much to share at U.M. graduation". Baltimore Sun. p. 56 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Levin, Sala (April 26, 2019). "A Celebration to Remember". University of Maryland. Retrieved July 27, 2020. Tonight, Coates will be one of seven Terps honored at the University of Maryland Alumni Association’s first annual Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards. She will be the inaugural recipient of an award in her name, meant to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to fostering diversity and inclusion nationally and globally.
  9. Svrluga, Susan (May 24, 2019). "After a tumultuous year, U-Md. graduates celebrate new beginnings". Washington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2020. The university honored its graduates of 50 years ago, and one in particular: Elaine Johnson Coates, who started in 1955, the first year black students were allowed to live on campus. She was frightened when she arrived and endured insults during her years in College Park. 'I stand on this podium and look at the diversity in the beautiful faces of the graduation class,” she told the crowd, “and it tells me that my journey mattered.'
  10. Bowie, Liz (April 20, 2020). "University of Maryland, College Park to hold virtual graduation on May 22". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 23, 2020. Honorary doctorates will be given to Hiram Whittle ‘52, the first African-American male undergraduate student admitted in 1951, and Elaine Johnson Coates ‘59, the first African-American female student admitted.
  11. Bowie, Liz (July 1, 2020). "University of Maryland president announces new programs to bolster diversity and support students". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 26, 2020. Taking steps to honor minority alumni, Pines has asked that residence halls be named after four alumni .. [including] Elaine Johnson-Coates, the first African American female to graduate with a degree in education in 1959
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