Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth is buried at Angelus-Rosedale cemetery located on Washington & Normandie in the West Adams Heights community of Los Angeles.

After retiring from the military Colonel Allensworth lived in what now is the USC area of South Los Angeles. He led a group of pioneers from the area and headed to Central California with the goal to stake out a new life. Thus, in 1908 he is known for creating California’s first town which was financed and governed by African-Americans and named after him; Allensworth, CA

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[postscript] Judith and I became involved in the Allensworth project in 1989. Due to low visitor-ship the State Historic park was subject for closure. After developing a relationship with Friends of Allensworth president George Finley and department staff, in 1991 we agreed to launch the first branch of Friends of Allensworth. It was located in the Los Angeles area. The first meeting was held at the Baldwin-Hills Crenshaw mall. We also became state certified docents to assist staff with interpreting Allensworth.

The issue regarding the Colonel’s burial site is interesting but being a docent-volunteer allowed us to explore circumstances of how he died. To the credit of agencies such as the State Park a lot of their interpretation is sanitized or providing as fact, yet lacking detailed information that may add a different perspective. We were able to explore the Colonel’s death and while much of written documentation will reference he died in 1914, our big question was HOW?

After impeccable research which included visiting the Monrovia library and conducting some oral interviews as well as visiting the location of the accident which eventually led to his death, we concluded it was more than a simple passing; it was a conspiracy, a murder, an assassination!

The Colonel was on his way to Shiloh Baptist church. He had just gotten off the train and was walking down Myrtle when two motorcycles ran into him. To us, that is more than just a mere passing. Again, the big questions are how and why, as big a street that Myrtle is?

more to follow……………………………………………