J. Chester Allen J.D. and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen J.D.

J. Chester Allen and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen were African American attorneys in South Bend, Indiana who fought for civil rights in both their personal and professional lives. J. Chester Allen was born in 1900 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After graduating with a law degree from Boston College, he moved to South Bend in 1929.[1] Elizabeth Fletcher was born in Chicago in 1905, and married J. Chester Allen in 1928.[2] The couple were noteworthy trailblazers in both civil rights and opportunities for women. The two created the Allen & Allen Law firm, and they were one of the first husband and wife law partners in the area. Elizabeth Fletcher Allen was the first female attorney in St. Joseph County and the state of Indiana.[3] J. Chester Allen paved the way for African American representation in South Bend as the first African American to serve on the City Council and the school board. He was elected as president of the St. Joseph County Bar Association and to the Indiana state legislature, the first African American in both of those positions.[4] Elizabeth Fletcher Allen was a member of the many civic and African American community organizations, including the South Bend chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Black Business and Professional Women’s Association.[5] While the two had many significant contributions to the community, they are perhaps best known for their civil rights work in South Bend, specifically fighting to desegregate the Engman Natatorium.

It was common for public parks and playgrounds, and other recreational facilities to be segregated in the mid-twentieth century, and the Allen’s helped fight for desegregation in South Bend. The South Bend Engman Public Natatorium was built in 1922, and for the first 14 years, only the white public could enjoy the pool. In 1931, African American leaders, including the Allen’s, began to take action to gain access to the pool. In 1936, when the South Bend Common Council levied a special tax on the residents of South Bend for pool repairs, African American community leaders demanded access to the pool if they were going to be taxed. A petition presented to the state tax commission pointed out that tax money would be used to repair a facility that was not allowed to be used by some of the community that was paying the tax. The state tax commissioner agreed with them, and after 16 years, the facility was finally open to African Americans. However, African Americans were only allowed to use the pool on Mondays with no whites present.[6] After working for over two decades to end the city pool’s segregationist policies, in February 1950, J. Chester Allen, Elizabeth Fletcher Allen, and Maurice Tulchinsky represented the NAACP before the South Bend Park Board “threatening action, unless the Board ruled to integrate the Engman Natatorium immediately.”[7] This threat would finally be a turning point, and the Parks board would relent and desegregate the Natatorium.

The Engman Natatorium closed its door is 1970, and the building sat empty for years.[8] What was once known as the Engman Public Natatorium, a public recreation facility once caught in a fight for desegregation, is now the Civil Rights Heritage Center in South Bend.[9] In 2018, the Engman Natatorium was designated as a local historic landmark. The landmark status protects the building and ensures that the building remains as close to its original form for generations to come. The Civil Rights Heritage Center is an active learning center in the community and attracts more than 5,000 visitors each year.[10]

[1] “J. Chester Allen and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen Papers.” Indiana University South Bend Libraries. Accessed August 26, 2020. https://library.iusb.edu/search-find/archives/crhc/ChesterElizabethAllen.html
[2] “Eliz Fletcher Allen obituary 28 Dec. 1994, p. 15.” Accessed August 26, 2020 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28608792/eliz-fletcher-allen-obituary-28-dec/
[3] “Local African American History: African Americans in the Workplace.” The History Museum. Accessed August 26, 2020. https://historymuseumsb.org/local-african-american-history/
[4] “J. Chester Allen.” The South Bend Tribune. Accessed August 26, 2020.
https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/keynews/community/j-chester-allen-sr/article_4855292c-9240-11e3-b4e5-001a4bcf6878.html
[5] “Eliz Fletcher Allen obituary.
[6] Harris, Dina. Divided Water: “Healing a Community’s Past,” 2013. https://clas.iusb.edu/centers/civil-rights/
[7] “Ruth Tulchinsky, Short Statement on Visiting the South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center,2010,” St. Joseph County Public Library Michiana Memory, March 22, 2016 Accessed August 26, 2020. http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16827coll4/id/2452/rec/6.
[8] Harris, Dina. Divided Water: “Healing a Community’s Past,” 2013. https://clas.iusb.edu/centers/civil-rights/
[9] “J. Chester Allen.”
[10] Baierl, Ken. “Engman Natatorium Designated Historic Landmark.” Indiana University of South Bend, October 16, 2018.

Student Author: Molly Hollcraft
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey

PHOTO & VIDEO:
J. Chester and Elizabeth Allen, South Bend Tribune https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2021/09/18/south-bend-historical-marker-honors-black-husband-wife-lawyers/8400790002/