Year Honored: 2000
Birth: 1944
Biography
Alice Marie Smith Coleman was a strong leader and advocate for people with mental illnesses. She was well-known and respected for her “tireless energy and commitment to breaking down the barriers that preclude people with disabilities from full participation in society.” Coleman was the first African American woman employed by the Delaware Psychiatric Center as a psychiatric social worker supervisor. Through her work, she has provided treatment support to the mentally ill, and focused on keeping the rights of people with mental illness visible on the public policy agenda.
Coleman has also worked with The New Castle County Architectural Barrier Removal Board and chaired the Delaware Psychiatric Center’s Patient Advocacy Committee. She has been awarded the State of Delaware’s Handicapped Employee of the Year (1970) , Delaware’s Outstanding Black Woman (1976), Outstanding Handicapped Social Worker (1984), and the Key to Improvement Award from the Delaware Mental Health Consumer’s Coalition, Inc.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sources and Additional Readings
Delaware Commission for Women. (2006). Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Hall of Fame of Delaware Women: The Legacy Endures.
- Collections: 2000, Black History Month