THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY: June 30, 1908 ALLEN ALLENSWORTH founded the town of Allensworth in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley as an all-black community. It is the only California town founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. By 1914, the town was reported to be 900 acres of deeded land worth more than $112,500. Over the next couple of decades, the town became a ghost town. Parts of it have been preserved as the Colonel Allensworth State Historical Park which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places February 23, 1972. Allen Allensworth was born enslaved April 7, 1842 in Louisville, Kentucky. He escaped slavery by joining the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1871, he was ordained a Baptist minister and led several churches in Kentucky. In 1880 and 1884, he was the only black delegate from Kentucky to the Republican National Conventions. In 1886, Allensworth was appointed military chaplain to a unit of Buffalo Soldiers and by the time he retired in 1906 had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, the first African American to achieve that rank. After leaving military service, Allensworth moved to Los Angeles, California and founded the town of Allensworth. He died September 14, 1914. Biographies of Allensworth include “Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth” (1914) and “Out of Darkness: The Story of Allen Allensworth” (1998).
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:00:04 +0000
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