Moses Carl Holman is recognize for his work as president of the National Urban Coalition and as a writer. He wrote drama, poetry, and worked as an editor for The Atlanta Inquirer. His work The Baptizin (1971) won 1st prize in the National Community Theater Festival. Holman became the first African American to win the annual radio scriptwriting award from the Chicago radio program, Dr. Christian.
Holman was born in Minter City, Mississippi. Holman graduated magna cum laude from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. (1942), attended the University of Chicago (M.A. 1944), and earned a master of fine arts degree from Yale University (1954).
Holman taught at the Hampton Institute and his alma mater, Lincoln—both historically black schools—before becoming a professor at Clark College in 1948, a position that he would hold until the early ’60s. In the summer of 1960, he became one of the co-founders of The Atlanta Inquirer, a weekly newspaper that was student-driven and presented topics for African-American communities, with a focus on the Civil Rights Movement.
Holman joined the staff of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1962 as an information officer, later assisting the agency’s staff director and becoming deputy director. In 1968, he became vice president of the National Urban Coalition, an organization meant to address racial strife and economic inequalities affecting the country. He became president of the coalition in 1971, and served in that position until his death in 1988.
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