|
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, Richard Allen, a political and civic leader, was |
|
born a slave in Richmond, Virginia, on June 10, 1830 and he was |
|
brought to Texas in 1837 and ultimately settled in Harris County, |
|
where he would serve the people of Harris County for many years; and |
|
WHEREAS, While a slave he earned a reputation as a skilled |
|
carpenter and is credited with designing and building the mansion |
|
of Houston mayor Joseph R. Morris; and |
|
WHEREAS, After emancipation Allen became a contractor and |
|
bridge builder, and built the first bridge across Buffalo Bayou in |
|
Houston; and |
|
WHEREAS, Although he was without a formal education, he |
|
became literate by 1870 and entered politics as a federal voter |
|
registrar in 1867, going on in 1868 to serve as an agent of the |
|
Freedmen's Bureau and as the supervisor of voter registration for |
|
the Fourteenth District of Texas; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen was elected to the Twelfth Legislature in |
|
November 1869 and became one of the first and most active |
|
African-American legislators as a representative of the Fourteenth |
|
District; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen advocated measures for education, law |
|
enforcement, and civil rights and in 1871 the Union League made him |
|
one of its vice presidents; and |
|
WHEREAS, He was elected street commissioner in Houston as an |
|
independent candidate in January 1878 and served for one term and |
|
later that year was nominated for lieutenant governor, thereby |
|
making him the first African-American to seek statewide office in |
|
Texas; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen served as quartermaster for the |
|
African-American regiment of Texas militia in 1881-1882, and from |
|
1882 to 1885 he acted as storekeeper and then inspector and deputy |
|
collector of United States customs at Houston; and |
|
WHEREAS, As customs collector Allen became involved in a |
|
labor dispute at the port of Houston in 1890 when he defied white |
|
labor leaders but urged African-American workers to remain peaceful |
|
during the protests; and |
|
WHEREAS, In 1872 and 1879 Allen served as a delegate to the |
|
National Colored Men's Convention and served as a vice president in |
|
1873 and as chairman in 1879 of African-American state conventions |
|
that voiced African Americans' concerns about civil rights, |
|
education, and economic issues; and |
|
WHEREAS, When the Prince Hall Masons organized in Texas in |
|
1875, Allen presided over the meeting in Brenham and two years later |
|
became the state's grand master; and |
|
WHEREAS, In Houston he led emancipation celebrations, |
|
promoted a park, and served as the superintendent of the Sunday |
|
school at Antioch Baptist Church and sat on the board of directors |
|
of Gregory Institute, Houston's first African-American secondary |
|
school; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen and his wife Nancy had one son and four |
|
daughters and he died on May 16, 1909, in Houston and is buried in |
|
the city cemetery; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen was a freedom fighter who courageously sided |
|
with the abolitionist movement of the North; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Allen is best known as a leader, and will forever |
|
be included within an impressive lineage of Texas's civil rights |
|
legends such as the Honorable Barbara Jordan and the Honorable |
|
Mickey Leland; and |
|
WHEREAS, Allen has earned the esteem and the right to have the |
|
state office building that houses the Texas Residential |
|
Construction Commission and serves as its state headquarters, |
|
located at 311 East 14th Street, Austin, Texas named in his honor as |
|
a fitting tribute; therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby extend its appreciation to Richard Allen for his years of |
|
devotion to public service and direct the Texas Building and |
|
Procurement Commission to name the state office building located at |
|
311 East 14th Street, Austin, Texas the Richard Allen State Office |
|
Building; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official |
|
copy of this resolution to the chair and executive director of the |
|
Texas Building and Procurement Commission. |