by Elizabeth Russey Roke, Manuscript Archivist, MARBL
Josephus Coan with the Executive Board
of the Transvaal Conference
Women's Missionary Society
Few people live past 100. Fewer still fill those years with untiring enthusiasm for service and scholarship. In more ways than one, Josephus Roosevelt Coan was exceptional. Born to a farming family in Spartanburg, SC, he went on to graduate from Howard and Yale.
After serving as a missionary in Africa, Coan eventually settled in Atlanta where he worked as a professor. The Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library is pleased to announce the opening of the Josephus Coan papers, one of the most complete African Methodist Episcopal (AME) collections in MARBL’s holdings. A small exhibition of selected items from the collection is currently on display in MARBL.
