Mary Alexander – early African-American model
February is Black History Month in the United States, and I thought you might be interested in a story about one of our first African-American models.
While Coke had featured African-American celebrities and athletes in ads, a model named Mary Cowser (today Mary Alexander) was one of the first non-celebrity African-American women to appear in our ads.
I’ve mentioned that at the New World of
Ms. Alexander had been a junior at Clark College in Atlanta in 1955 when Coke came to campus to find models for a new print campaign. Ms. Alexander’s dorm housemother encouraged her to try out and she was selected as one of the featured models in a program that appeared in newspapers, magazines and posters. In all, she appeared in more than 10 ads for Coke, appearing with fellow students from Clark and Morehouse College (also in Atlanta). She earned enough money in her first year modeling for Coke to pay that year’s tuition.
The ads appeared in magazines such as Ebony, in New York subway ads and on billboards across the country. Ms. Alexander said her brother saw one of her billboards while driving in Mississippi, but no one believed that was really his sister!
Ms. Alexander graduated from Clark in 1956, becoming a teacher and principal. She did not model again, but we were able to bring her to Atlanta in August for a trip to the World of
I was thrilled to meet her in person, and we were all grateful to hear her story.
My name is Phil Mooney, and I've served as the historian/archivist for 
Thank You Coca-Cola for recognizing Mary Alexander, a living legend. She is so eloquent and still beautiful. She is just as much beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She deserves the "Unsung Shero Award". What a great role model! Thank you again for celebrating Coca-Cola's own living legend. She was also Miss Clark College 1955 & 1956, listed in Who's Who Among Colleges and Universities, Ivy League Club member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Real Estate Secretary, first black teacher at Mount Clemens High School and first female principal of Highland Park School in Michigan.
Posted by: Sylvia Wright | February 21, 2008 at 09:29 PM
I am looking forward to seeing Mary Alexander on a commercial showing Coca-Cola's yesterday, today and and tommorrow. Rejoice!!
Posted by: Sylvia Wright | February 21, 2008 at 09:32 PM
Ms. Wright - Thank you so much for your messages. Thank you for telling us more of her story and her many accomplishments.
For other readers, Ms. Wright actually is the person who told us about Ms. Alexander! Ms. Wright - thank you for bringing this living legend to our attention! -- Phil
Posted by: Phil Mooney | February 22, 2008 at 01:23 PM
How about incorporating some of the original posters from the 1050's of Ms. Alexander into TV commercials for the balance of the year? Theme could revolve around oldies but goodies such as Coke and Ms. Alexander.
Posted by: Richard Helvey | February 28, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Excellent story, truely an eye opener and a great history story. I have shared this story and incorporated into our Black history and marketing/ advertising topics of discussion.
Posted by: Yolonda Joiner | March 11, 2008 at 10:20 AM