A00149 - A Return to Allensworth: From a Field of Weeds to a Field of Dreams

 

Last week I drove down Highway 99 to Fresno. Not far past Fresno, I took the Highway 43 turnoff to go to the town of Allensworth.  


I was last in Allensworth some twenty-five years ago when it was little more than a historical marker in front of a field where there was once the town of Allensworth.  I returned to Allensworth because recent Los Angeles Times stories noted that times have changed

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-20/california-first-black-town-allensworth-looks-to-historic-past-to-build-a-better-future

And indeed, the Allensworth that I saw last Monday, April 24, had changed.  Where there were once only weeds, there were now houses and other buildings that had been fully reconstructed and refurbished in the style of the early 1900s.  This Allensworth seemed to be a fully functioning town again except that it was uninhabited.  Today, it is a State Park maintained by the State of California and the only residents of the restored townsite buildings today are Park Rangers.

Nevertheless, the resurrection of Allensworth is impressive and, based upon the brochures, it will live again.  On May 20, the town will come alive to host a Gospel Music Festival and, on June 10, the town will celebrate Juneteenth by bringing folks from Los Angeles by a special train to commemorate not only freedom from slavery but also to celebrate black resilience.  On Juneteenth, many of the attendees will dress in clothing reflecting the period when Allensworth thrived.

Allensworth is a long way away, but I just might go to see the black utopia rise again.  After all, as the saying goes "If you build it, they will come."  One of the "they" just happens to be me.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
May 4, 2023

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