Allen Allensworth

Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth (April 7, 1842 – September 14, 1914) was an officer in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At the time of his retirement in 1906, he was the highest ranking African American officer in American history. He is chiefly remembered as the founder of the all-black town of Allensworth in California, now Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.

Life Story

Born into slavery, Allensworth educated himself illegally; he ran off and joined the army, eventually becoming the army's first Black chaplain. He obtained a teacher's certificate, and was stationed at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

Upon leaving military service, Allensworth and his family settled in Los Angeles. It was there that he was inspired with the idea of establishing a self-sufficient, all-black California town — a place where African Americans could live their lives free of the racial discrimination that pervaded post-Reconstruction, turn-of-the-century America. His dream was to build a town where black people might live and create "sentiment favorable to intellectual and industrial liberty." That dream came to fruition in 1908 with the establishment of Allensworth in Tulare county, about thirty miles north of Bakersfield, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. The black settlers of Allensworth built homes, laid out streets, and put up public buildings. They established a church, and organized an orchestra, a glee club, and a brass band.

The Allensworth colony became a member of the county school district and the regional library system — and also a voting precinct, electing the first African-American Justice of the Peace in post-Mexican California. In 1914, the "California Eagle" newspaper reported that the Allensworth community consisted of convert|900|acre|km2 of deeded land worth more than $112,500. Allensworth soon became a town, not just a colony. Among the social and educational organizations that flourished during Allensworth's golden age were the Campfire Girls, the Owl Club, the Girls' Glee Club, and the Children's Savings Association, for the town's younger residents, while adults participated in the Sewing Circle, the Whist Club, the Debating Society, and the Theater Club.

LTC Allensworth was an admirer of African American educator Booker T. Washington, the founder and driving force behind the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Tuskegee was undoubtedly a source of inspiration for the creation of a self-sufficient African American community in central California — in fact, it was LTC Allensworth's dream that his new town would come to be known as the "Tuskegee of the West". The Girls' Glee Club, modeled after the internationally known Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, was the community's pride and joy. Allensworth's streets were all named after notable African-Americans and/or dedicated abolitionists, such as Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The town was ultimately confronted with some serious challenges. The dry and dusty soil made farming difficult, and toxins, particularly Arsenic, seeped into the drinking water. Sadly, the town lost its founding father when LTC Allensworth was killed in an accident in Los Angeles in 1914. The town's discouraged settlers drifted away in the next couple of decades and Allensworth was reduced almost to a ghost town.

Allensworth was the only California town to be founded, financed and governed by African Americans. The small farming community was founded by LTC Allen Allensworth and a group of others dedicated to improving the economic and social status of African Americans. Uncontrollable circumstances, including a drop in the area’s water table, resulted in the town’s decline. However, with continuing restoration and special events, the site is experiencing a renaissance as a state historic park. The park’s visitor center features a film about the site. An annual re-dedication ceremony reaffirms the vision of the original pioneers.

LTC Allensworth's residence is preserved and furnished in the 1912 period style. It contains items from the Colonel's life in the service and the ministry. A small display of farm equipment is a reminder of the Allensworth economic base. The most important building, historically and in the memory of Allensworth pioneers, is the school house. In use until 1972, it is furnished as it would have been on a school day in 1915.

He is interred in the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.

ee also

[http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/alexander/alexander.html Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth, by Charles Alexander, Electronic Edition, (1868)]

External links

* [http://placesearth.com/USA/California/Tulare/code/Allensworth.htm Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park]
* [http://www.inkling.hypermart.net/out.html "Out of Darkness: The Story of Allen Allensworth"]
* http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/583/files/ColonelAllensworth.pdf
* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=583 Colonel Allensworth SHP]
* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/966/AllensworthCA_a_community_of_black_self_pride June 30 On this date, we celebrate the founding of Allensworth, California in 1908.]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Allensworth&GSfn=Allen+&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=21364& Allen Allensworth (1842 - 1914) - Find A Grave Memorial]

Additional Reading

*Radcliffe, Evelyn, "Out of Darkness: The Story of Allen Allensworth", An African-American man's success (Menlo Park, CA: Inkling Press, 1998) ISBN 0-9711039-0-9

*"Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth, A. M., Ph.D.", Lieutenant-Colonel, Retired, U. S. Army. Boston: Sherman, French & Company, 1914.

*"History of Tulare County California". Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1926. California Historical Society, North Baker Research Library collection, FN-32157

*Ritter, John, "Historic Town Doomed...", USA Today, January 22, 2007