When she died almost
precisely a century ago, she was 5,000 miles from her family
and friends in Richmond and Charlottesville; and from the
educational institutions that cherished her - and who still
cherish her memory. She left this world one month short of
her twenty-third birthday, but in that brief span led such
an extraordinary life of charity, kindness, service, and sacrifice
for others that she became an uplifting example to all who
knew her, and still continues to be an inspiration for those
who seek what is good in the human spirit.
Eva Roberta Coles
was bom in Charlottesville, Virginia on January 8th, 1880.
She was one of the young women who were fortunate enough to
attend Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond, which had been
founded in 1883 as the world's first college for African-American
females. (Spelman College in Atlanta did not become a college
until 1924, and Bennett College in North Carolina was co-educational
until 1926). In 1892 Hartshorn gave the first Bachelor's Degrees
ever conferred at a Black female college: the recipients of
the Bachelor of Science Degrees were: Mary Moore Booze (of
Buchanan, Virginia); Harriet Amanda Miller (Charlottesville);
and Dixie Erma Williams (Milan, Tennessee). The first classes
were held in the basement of Ebenezer Baptist Church, then
the college moved to its campus at the northwest comer of
Leigh & Lombardy Streets (site of the present day Maggie Walker
Governor's School). There it took both day and boarding students
and offered its young ladies a solid academic curriculum based
on that of Wellesley College, and a close-knit family atmosphere
that stressed Christian life and values, and community service.
Eva would
thrive at Hartshorn as a quiet, serious student, and as a
Hartshorn Home Worker. Students would go in pairs to the homes
of underprivileged, illiterate families on Sundays and conduct
Sunday Schools for the children, which included instruction
in reading and writing as well as Biblical lessons. Clothes
were distributed to those who were in real need. On Tuesday
afternoons time would be reserved for holding sewing classes
for local women. At these sewing circles the women would not
only receive instruction but would also engage in Christian
fellowship and discussing problems and concerns to sympathetic
ears: the emphasis of the Hartshorn Home Workers centered
always on encouragement, support and the instilling of a sense
of dignity to women who would have had a great deal to contend
with in their lives.On
February 11,1899, Eva was among the Hartshorn students who
walked the one block north to the present site of Virginia
Union University, which had been newly founded as a men's
institution and was having its groundbreaking ceremony. It
was there that she may have met Clinton Caldwell Boone, who
was studying for the Baptist ministry, and developed a friendship
that would blossom into love.
Eva graduated
in May of 1899, and returned to teach in her home town. Clinton
finished at Virginia Union the following year. On January
16th, 1901, Eva and Clinton were married and had decided to
dedicate themselves to mission work among the peoples of Africa.
They were sponsored by the American Baptist Missionary Union
and the Lott
Carey Foreign Mission Convention. In May of that year they
arrived at Palaballa in what was then the Congo Free State
(now the Republic of the Congo). There Eva and Clinton labored
heroically and unselfishly, and endured heart-rending
hardships and sorrow, including the loss of their baby. Eva's
sweet and caring nature and quiet courage won her the love
and respect of the villagers, in a way that no one else was
able to do. They smiled when
