Melissa Minnich Coleman (October 9, 1917 – April 1, 2014), (born Mary Melissa Minnich) was an architect specializing in school buildings. She was born in

Landisville, Pennsylvania Landisville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 1,893. The community was once part of the Salunga- ...

. She graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1939 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in architectural engineering, after being awarded the 1938

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

from 1939 until 1941 for architect John F. Mullins, and met her husband Clifford LeRoy Coleman there. They were married August 29, 1942.

Coleman & Coleman

Coleman and her husband established the firm of Coleman & Coleman in Landisville in 1947, merging with Haak & Kaufman of

Myerstown, Pennsylvania Myerstown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Moyerschteddel'') is a borough located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lebanon, Pennsylvania Metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,103 at the 2020 census. It is home to over 100 b ...

in 1970 to form Haak, Kaufman, Coleman & Coleman. Coleman & Coleman first specialized on designing schools in Lancaster County, such as

Hempfield High School Hempfield High School is a public senior high school located in Salunga-Landisville, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves both East and West Hempfield townships and serves as the only high school for Hempfield School District. Demographics * ...

Penn Manor High School Penn Manor High School is a large, rural/suburban, public secondary school located in Millersville, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the sole high school operated by the Penn Manor School District. In the 2018–2019 school year, enrollment wa ...

, and Centerville Middle School. They designed forty-eight student houses for the

Milton Hershey School The Milton Hershey School, formerly the Hershey Industrial School, is a private boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania for K–12 students. The institution was founded in 1909 by chocolate industrialist Milton Hershey and his wife, Catherine ...

, along with a school building, Catherine Hall, Founder's Hall and the Hershey Motor Lodge. Coleman also worked for

Hercules Powder Company Hercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit ...

, A. T. Granger Associates, and the Buchart Engineering Company. She served as a vice president of the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

in 1952–1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Melissa Minnich 1917 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American architects American women architects Penn State College of Engineering alumni Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 20th-century American women 21st-century American women