CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH - HONORING GEORGE L. ALLEN SR.

FREEDOM TOUR FRIDAYS – CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE

D.R.E.A.M (Determined, Resilient, Engaged, Access & Movement), is the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas’ African American Employee Resource Group. We aim to address issues African-Americans face in our workplace, community, and country as well as celebrate their success.

February 1st through February 28th is recognized as African American History, or Black History Month. Black History Month was originally founded in 1924 as a week-long celebration by Ph.D. author and historian Carter G. Woodson. Today, we stand at the intersection of social justice and racial equity to continue to celebrate and memorialize the history of the Black experience.

Thank you for joining us for a Virtual Freedom Tour as we with us to uplift, uncover, and celebrate African American Culture in Dallas. Each week in February, we will honor and recognize community leaders and African American culture. Learn more by visiting: https://www.ymcadallas.org/erg/DREAM

This week we honor the life and legacy of the HONORABLE GEORGE L. ALLEN SR.

GEORGE L. ALLEN SR is a true African American trailblazer in both Dallas and Texas history. He was the first Black student to attend the University of Texas in Austin, the first Black Dallas City Council Member, first Black Mayor Pro Tem, a YMCA Volunteer with the Moorland YMCA, a civil rights activist, and a judge.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

In 1938 he became the first African American to enroll at the University of Texas. He attended only ten days before the university’s administration realized that Allen, a light-skinned man of Creole descent, was not White.

EDUCATION

He earned his A. B. degree at Xavier University in New Orleans and completed additional studies at the Southern Methodist University Institute of Insurance Management and the University of Southern California.

BUSINESS

Later, he started his own insurance business, Great Liberty Insurance Company, as well as his public accounting firm and the Southwest School of Business Administration. He was president of the life insurance firm and a Certified Public Accountant and became involved in the local chapter of the NAACP. He got involved in local politics and quickly established himself as a leader in the African American community. His business success led to his appointment as director of the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund in 1955.

COMMUNITY SERVICE & LEADERSHIP

He also became very active in the Dallas community. In the 1960s Allen served on the “Committee of 14,” the committee of seven Whites and seven African Americans organized by the Dallas Citizens Council in 1960 that began the process of desegregating public facilities, schools, and employment in Dallas. In 1963 and 1965, he ran unsuccessfully for the city council, but in the former year, he became the first African American to serve on a city board or commission when he was appointed to the City Plan Commission.

Finally, in 1968 Allen was appointed by Dallas mayor Erik Jonsson to fill a newly created seat on the Dallas city council. One year later, with the endorsement of the Citizens Charter Association, he became the first African American to win the election to a seat on that body. As a city councilman, he proposed and the city council passed an Open Housing Ordinance to end housing discrimination against African American citizens, and he was also successful in passing a public accommodations ordinance to cover those areas not addressed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Elected in 1969, he served three terms from 1968-1975. From 1973 to 1975, he achieved another “first” when he served as mayor pro-tem of Dallas city council.

He served on the Board of the Moorland YMCA, which served as the Dallas African American community’s social, civic, and political center. During segregation, it provided a place for black men to stay while in Dallas, and during the Civil Rights movement, “it was the ‘town hall’ for leaders of the black community. Many of the most prominent African Americans in the city were supporters of the organization including Judge George L. Allen, a prominent physician and businessman Dr. L. G. Pinkston, civil rights activist A. Maceo Smith, historian J. Leslie Patton, and Dr. J. W. Anderson.

Among many accomplishments, Allen played a role in the desegregation of Dallas' schools and public facilities and pushed for an important open housing ordinance and a public accommodations ordinance.

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE

In 1975, Allen resigned from his seat to accept an appointment as justice of the peace. He served as a justice of the peace in Dallas County for thirteen years. During that time he also served on the board of regents for Texas Southern University. In total, he served on the TSU board for twenty-five years.

HONORS

For his service to Dallas as well as the state of Texas, George Allen earned numerous awards, including honorary degrees from Bishop College and Texas Southern University. He was also honored for his community service by African-American organizations such as the South Dallas Business and Professional Woman’s Club and the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce (now Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce) as well as by organizations such as the Dallas Big Brothers, the Knights of Columbus, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.

LEGACY

Allen died on February 22, 1991, in Dallas. A funeral Mass was held for Allen, a Catholic, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, where he was a longtime parishioner. Allen married Norma Fuller, and they had one daughter and three sons—Norma, Don, Arthur, and George Jr. His wife had preceded him in death, and he was survived by his second wife Juanita M. Allen.

The Dallas County Court building at 600 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas was named the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building in his honor in 1992.

Texas Southern University Business Building was also named after him.

Learn more about his life and legacy by viewing the following:

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/black-history-month/trailblazer-george-l-allen-sr-was-dallas-first-black-city-council-member-mayor-pro-tem/2315329/

https://dallascityhall.com/government/citysecretary/archives/Pages/Archives_firsts.aspx

https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/black-living-legends/politics/

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/allen-george-louis

YMCA George L. Allen Leadership Award 

The YMCA is proud of its commitment to providing service to all people and all communities. Annually the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas presents the George L. Allen Leadership Award. Criteria for this award are outstanding leadership in service to a community or to a special group of people who experience unique challenges. George L. Allen served the YMCA and his community during a time when Dallas was a city divided and community needs were identified differently. His passion was to include all people in the YMCA movement regardless of their ability to pay. He served as Moorland Branch YMCA Board Chairman from 1959-1962. Before that, he was on the board for many years and continued to serve Moorland until his death. 

George Allen was the inaugural honoree in 1990 and this award has been given for outstanding leadership in service to a community or to a special group of people who experience unique challenges.