Collection ID: CRHC.ALLEN
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Allen, J. Chester, 1900-1980 and Allen, Elizabeth Fletcher, 1905-1994
Abstract:
Mr. J. Chester Allen and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Fletcher Allen, were prominent African American attorneys in the South Bend, Indiana area. The Allens lived a relatively privileged lifestyle; however, they were very aware that their privilege necessitated a responsibility to help other African Americans who suffered injustices – social, economical, and educational. As lawyers, they worked within the system and with such groups as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Urban League (among others) to bring about positive social change. Their efforts brought an end to the Engman Natatorium's exclusion of African Americans, and they helped bring equity to war contracts in Michiana industries for both African Americans and women during World War II. Their family law practice often took on pro-bono cases for those who could not afford lawyers of their caliber.
Extent:
8.15 cubic feet (One full-size records case, one letter-size documents case, twenty-six shelved books, and oversize material in flat storage.)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], J. Chester and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen papers, Civil Rights Heritage Center Collections, Indiana University South Bend Archives.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

J. Chester Allen was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on December 12, 1900. After graduating with a law degree from Boston University, Mr. Allen moved to South Bend in 1929.

Elizabeth Fletcher, born in Chicago, Illinois on September 16, 1905, earned her degree from Talladega College (a private historically black college in Alabama) in 1926. She attended and earned a law degree from Boston University. It was at Boston University that, in 1928, she met J. Chester Allen. The couple moved to South Bend three years later.

Together, they began the Allen and Allen law firm, one of the first husband and wife teams in South Bend that practiced law together. Mr. Allen represented St. Joseph County in the Indiana House of Representatives (serving from 1939 to 1943), was a South Bend City Councilman (serving from 1960 to 1963), and was President of the St. Joseph County Bar Association (1969 to 1970).

Scope and Content:

The collection includes legal booklets, certificates, photographs, books, newspaper clippings, and some ephemera including plaques, matchbooks, and license plates. The materials in this collection primarily cover the Allen's most active professional years from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Custodial history:

The items in this collection were donated by the Allen's son, Dr. Irving Allen, and Dr. Allen's wife Betty Allen when they visited the Engman Natatorium on May 21, 2013. Additional materials were donated to the collection by Dr. Allen in 2015.

Arrangement:

Paper and photographic materials are stored in boxes and organized alphabetically by title. A small amount of three-dimensional materials are stored in a banker's box. Additionally, the collection contains twenty-six books, some of which are quite fragile. These books are stored on shelves near the collection's boxes, organized alphabetically by the primary author's last name.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research. Advanced notice is required.

Two books in the collection, "The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It" by Hinton Rowan Helper and "Report [of] the Select Committee of the Senate Appointed to Inquire in to the Late Invasion and Seizure of the Public Property at Harper's Ferry" by the United States Senate Select Committee on the Harper's Ferry Invasion, are in very fragile condition and must be handled with care.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The donor(s) of this collection have transferred copyrights for their original materials to the Trustees of Indiana University.

The IU South Bend Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim copyright for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.

Digital reproductions of archival materials from the IU South Bend Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized material and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University South Bend Archivist.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], J. Chester and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen papers, Civil Rights Heritage Center Collections, Indiana University South Bend Archives.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University South Bend
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Schurz Library
1700 Mishawaka Avenue
PO Box 7111
South Bend, Indiana 46634, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University South Bend
CONTACT:
574-520-4392
archiusb@iusb.edu