Determined to give her children lives unrestrained by segregation, Marian Willis Scott banded with 33 other Black mothers in 1951 to start a program offering experiences otherwise off-limits.
“Our children did not have the opportunity to go to the theater, to learn manners, to go to movies or to nice dinners. We Black people had to expose our children to those things ourselves,” said Alfreda Mayes, past president of the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc.
The chapter now consists of 200 mothers, its ripple-effect enriching children for generations, including families of civil rights movement leaders such as former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Scott was one of the last remaining founders of the Atlanta chapter when she died August 30 after an extended illness. She was 96. A private graveside service will be held September 10 at Lincoln Cemetery. Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home – West End Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
“She created a cocoon where we were safe,” said daughter Alexis Scott, a retired journalist and publisher. “We didn’t even realize there were restrictions on us.”
Marian Scott was born in Atlanta in 1923, the only child of a Pullman porter and a homemaker. She spent first grade at home because of a near-fatal case of pneumonia, and started school in second grade at Oglethorpe Elementary School. There she met William Alexander Scott III, whose father founded Atlanta Daily World, the oldest African-American newspaper in Atlanta.
The two continued through Atlanta University Laboratory High School. Marian Scott attended Spelman, William Scott attended Morehouse. They married in 1944 in New York City, after being turned away by two officiants, said family members. Marian Scott’s light complexion caused concern they were an interracial couple, illegal at the time.
Back at Spelman, Marian Scott kept her news a secret, as married female students were barred. She graduated in 1945 with a degree in English. Her children were born in 1946 and 1949, and she focused on giving them a world not limited by the color of their skin.
“My parents told us, ‘You can be anything you want to be.’” Scott said.
The Scotts raised their children with diversity, travel, and exposure to the arts. William Scott was a chess champion whose competitions took the family across the U.S. and whose local matches brought a mix of ethnicities into their home. Visitors included Jews, Muslims, whites and Blacks.
As a child, Alexander William “Rip” Scott IV met future Heisman Trophy Winner Jim Brown at one of his parent’s gatherings. Jazz great Duke Ellington visited after Rip’s tonsillectomy.
Marian Scott modeled for her children a life undeterred by racism. She and her husband built a house on family-owned land in an all-white area of Mozley Park in 1949. When someone shot a bullet through their front window in protest, they cleaned up and kept living. When Rip Scott’s integrated summer camp in Americus, Ga., was burned by the Ku Klux Klan in the mid 1950s, he camped in Monteagle, Tennessee, instead. When someone led Marian and Alexis to a gas station bathroom labeled “Colored,” she took her young daughter’s hand and walked away.
Rip Scott, a retired air traffic controller, attributes his ability to handle 40 years in a profession known for stress to seeing his mother remain unflappable amid prejudice.
“We grew up being told, ‘You cannot fight hate with hate, because then everybody ends up dead,’” said Alexis Scott.
“Our mother always had her eye on the prize. She wasn’t distracted by things that got in the way.”
Marian Scott was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, William Alexander Scott III, and her grandson, William Alexander Scott V. Survivors include daughter Marian Alexis Scott (Brian McKissick) and son William Alexander “Rip” Scott IV (Kiawanne), both of Atlanta, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Spelman College President’s Safety Net Fund, or to First Congregational Church United Church of Christ Building Fund.
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