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Description
Two handwritten letters from Allen Allensworth, an African American veteran of the Civil War and a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1880. In the present letters, both written from Bowling Green, Kentucky, Allensworth writes concerning the election of 1884. The first letter, dated August 25, 1884 is addressed to Pennsylvania industrialist Benjamin Franklin Jones, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1884-1888. In it Allensworth offers his services as a speaker during the campaign of 1884. The second letter, dated October 2, 1884, is addressed to Samuel Fessenden, wherein Allensworth writes with passion inflamed, "I wrote your committee some time ago tendering my services as a speaker. My letter seems to have been treated with contempt. I think it is a mistake for your committee to ignore the services of a number of serviceable colored speakers from the South. They ought to be placed in such states as Ohio and Indiana." Allensworth closes the letter noting that he "was a member of the Chicago Convention and voted for the nomination of Mr. Blaine." Allensworth was, in fact, the only black delegate from Kentucky, as he had been in the 1880 convention as well. Allensworth, notable for many accomplishments, also founded Allensworth, California, the only town in the state to be founded, financed, and governed by African Americans Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://lib.ucsd.edu/sca) Text Bowling Green, Kentucky,
Type
text
Format
2 letters (2 pages) ; 26 x 20 cm
Identifier
ark:/20775/bb50939064
Language
English
Subject
African Americans--Politics and government History African Americans Presidents--Election Presidents Nineteenth century Sources United States Jones, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1824-1903 Allensworth, Allen, 1842-1914 Fessenden, Samuel, 1847-1908
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