Page 8 - Scene Magazine 41-02 February 2016

Did You Know?
BY KATHY BANFIELD SHAw
Did you know that in addition to being the first woman elected to the Michigan State Supreme Court (and the first woman Chief Justice) Mary
Stallings Coleman was born in Forney, Texas, raised in Washington, D.C., ed- ucated at the University of Maryland and Georgetown Law School; and did you know Justice Coleman was the first woman to have a baby in Occupied Berlin and the newly opened American Hospital? She was also Miss Maryland for two consecutive years and didn’t really want to be nominated for that honor. Justice Coleman had more “firsts” than Carter has pills (for those of you not familiar with that phrase... check it out on Google).
I had the honor of researching Justice Coleman for the Michigan Women’s History Museum and Hall of Fame but never had the pleasure of meeting her in person. I volunteered myself (and Justice Coleman) to be my first interviewee on a series of videos I did for the Museum and Hall of Fame. Unfortunately history has a way of inserting itself just when we think we are in charge. Justice Coleman was scheduled on a flight from her home in Florida to Michigan on the morning of September 11, 2001. After the shock of the event passed we attempted to schedule another opportunity for her to come to Michigan, but by then she was too ill to
mary stallings coleman
Justice Mary Coleman with husband Judge Creighton Coleman in a photo published in an article from a 1985 issue of Scene Magazine (Vol. 9 No. 1).
travel. Justice Coleman passed away at her daughter’s home in Florida Novem- ber 27, 2001. She is interred alongside her beloved husband Creighton Cole- man in Oakridge Cemetery in Marshall.
So what did I learn about Justice Coleman that maybe you didn’t know? I learned she was nearly inexhaustible in her desire to help others; as I mentioned before, she was named “Miss Maryland” not just once but twice while she was a student at the University of Maryland; she worked at her day job at the Defense Department while attending George- town Law School; she traveled across the Atlantic Ocean while eight months pregnant and a two-year-old in tow to join her husband in Occupied Berlin at the end of World War II; she raised two women who became medical doctors (while holding full time jobs as a prac- ticing lawyer and judge); she graduated
from high school at the tender age of 16; she followed in the footsteps of her parents who were both lawyers and her mother worked with the Justice Depart- ment during prohibition which led to a few interesting stories to share around the family dining room table. I could continue forever (her single-spaced re- sume is three pages), but you may want to know some of the back stories to these “headlines.”
Behind her back, and despite her objections, Mary Stallings was named “Miss Maryland” while attending the University of Maryland. She was at the top of her class scholastically and a member of Phi Kappa Phi, a national fraternity for the recognition of scho- lastic prowess. Ms. Stallings had the leading roles in university dramatic pro- ductions, was the women’s editor of the campus honor magazine, a representa- tive to the student congress, a member of the Women’s Senior Honor Society and belonged to Alpha Omicron Pi, a social sorority. Her friends hoped she would accept the honor of “Miss Mary- land” to show that she was more than “just a brain.”
Throughout her life Justice Coleman proved over and over she was an advo- cate for others. From the time she was young she wanted to be involved in the juvenile justice system. After working as a law partner with her husband, Creigh- ton, she became a referee for the Cal- houn County Juvenile Court and in 1960 she was elected a Probate and Juvenile Justice in Calhoun County. That back- story is another good one!
I don’t have enough room here to tell all the Mary Coleman stories in my files, but wanted to give you enough to either say “Stop!” or “Don’t Stop... tell me more.” I’ll be back next month with more stories about someone you may think you know... because there’s always a story behind the scenes. If there’s someone you’d like to hear about, let me know!
Kathy Banfield Shaw is President and co-Founder of Shaw Communication with her husband, T.R. Shaw.
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